X Chronicles 2: Lazarus Zero
by Cyrex
Summary: [continuation of Rise of Sigma] The Maverick threat returns with a vengeance and painful secondary motives just six months after Sigma's defeat. As the war changes from a battle for survival to a race against time, will conflict within the Maverick Hunter ranks defeat them before their enemies can?
1. Chapter 1: A New War

Chapter 1: "A New War"

Air hissed around the metal armor of the hover-bike as its hydraulics sang in chorus, the vehicle twisting and angling around a wind-hewn boulder in the desert. Megaman X's eyes were sharp as he accelerated past it, a fine cloud of particles gushing up in his wake. Other Reploids came ripping around the corner with him, all mounted on the high-speed ground-vehicles.

The desert was just starting to cool in the twilight sun as they raced toward their target. The factory ahead loomed up out of the gritty sand like a fortress, and the air howled from blazing waves of firepower swarming off of its sides and the mechaniloids defending its base.

Emplaced Maverick Hunters were laying down responding waves of fire from the surrounding outcroppings of rock and sandy cliffs, but none could close more than a few hundred meters… save the brave souls on the hover-bikes.

X juked sharply to his right, letting a cannon-blast shock the ground he'd occupied a core-pulse before. His face never showed surprise, he only raced ahead. The rigid focus in his eyes would have disturbed his friends.

That was when one of his team shot ahead of him with a holler of confidence. X's eyes snapped to this comrade in alarm. "Gibdan, don't!"

The Reploid, his green armor glistening even in the dying light, laughed as he popped a wheelie with his hover-bike, accelerating harder.

X growled in frustration, his legs shifting to signal for more power as he tried to catch up. "Warn him about reckless moves, and he pops a wheelie straight into enemy fire!" X's own armor, clean white and blue with lines of gold, shone brighter as he leaned down and burst ahead.

Now most of his team was spaced back a dangerous amount, and the explosions from the defending fire of the factory were breaking their formation as they wove and swept to avoid being blown apart.

Gibdan shouted back, "Don't worry, boss, I got this!"

X's brow creased. "Ease down and get back in formation, G! That's an order!"

Then X's eyes caught the cannon-walker mechaniloid at the gate of the factory twisting straight toward them. It was a hulking beast with two mighty legs, twin heavy cannons where the chest should have been, no arms, and a small head for the beady red optics. It was a mobile gun emplacement more than a robot.

The mechaniloid braced, almost on its haunches, and fired. Even then it shook the heavy gate behind it from the power of the release.

"I'll blow the gate, you guys sweep in after!" Gibdan shouted back, and started to drop from his wheelie.

He didn't see the twin cannon shots that were already hurtling toward him.

X saw it, however. "G, no!" he shouted, and tried to slide without losing speed, reaching out to grab his comrade off his bike.

His fingers stretched, just shy of the green shoulder armor of the brash Hunter, but the shots hit. The bike erupted as Gibdan's body was blown in half and apart in one horrendous strike.

The other Hunters on the bikes faltered at the sight, a few swerving out to avoid crash-flipping outright.

X had the heat-plume wash over him even as he tried to cringe away. He felt the pieces of his comrade and the vehicle batter and scrape over his own frame and vehicle for an instant before his own bike took the second blast to the rear-drive.

In that core-pulse, X felt such dark memories resurge. Watching his friend, Zero, die from a self-destruct to save X; the look on this face as he apologized. The blood pouring over X from the human woman, Jessica, whom he couldn't save from Sigma's army. The Mavericks he'd fought and torn apart, their bodies hewn or dismembered. The victims of their atrocities, lives broken or ruined… It all swirled in X's mind, and crystallized around the moment where he killed Vile, blowing Sigma's right-hand-Reploid away with a point-blank buster-shot to the head.

Back in reality, his body and vehicle still reeling from the blasts only an instant before, X growled, his eyes dilating toward the factory over his shoulder thanks to the spin-wrench of the shot to his bike.

Still hovering along at high speed toward the factory thanks to the nature of his vehicle, X snapped his controls so that his bike was forced straight again. He ducked under a fresh pair of shots from the mechaniloid focused on him, then hopped up, surfing his bike as he touched his ear-comm. "Fall back. All Hunters, maintain surrounding formation and await signal."

Various affirmations chorused back to him in his internal comm; the other hover-bike-riders swerved off to obey.

X started to glow, energy writhing into his buster and over his frame like water cascading down stone.

"X, are you okay!?" Alia's voice chimed over his internal comm next. She was clearly worried, but kept a professional tone. Anyone would be checking his status after he ordered his support away.

Still determined, X replied, "No one else is dying today."

Alia looked up from her console at Hunter base, her blue eyes tightening. _X…_

The mechaniloid fired again.

X back-flipped, arms out, buster trailing light. The twin cannon-shots screamed just over his stomach, chest, and face as his body neatly slipped between them and the back of his damaged bike.

The bike hurtled ahead as X's legs arced over his body, and the vehicle took the mechaniloid's legs out in a fiery shockwave of parts and drive-core overload.

The upper-body of the cannon-bot crashed down, but it was still aiming, about to fire.

X landed into a rocket-dash from his boosts straight toward the half-shattered robot, his buster aimed out.

A shock-wave of purple-blue plasma ripped out as X roared. The back-blast tore up the ground in his wake, the forward wave churning and spiraling toward the mechaniloid like a voracious beast. It struck, and flash-melted the robot into a burning crater of glass on its way to the security gate towering behind.

For a moment, the plasma-blast seemed to scatter over the door, but it surged through just as X reached it, and he leapt through the glowing hole it left, skidding to a halt on his haunches inside.

Touching his comm, eyes closed, he asked, "Alia, do you read me?"

"…Yes, X. The factory has likely been heavily modified, but I'm activating a map for you based on the information we have."

His view was overlaid with a holographic model of the entire facility to scale, and a path of halls and structures flashed rapidly for him.

"That path should get you to the control center. It's on the opposite side, next to the largest fabrication cell."

"Well done, Lieutenant," he said, and started to run forward. "Any word on what triggered this place going maverick?"

"Not yet, but Dex and Signas are working on that already."

"Good work."

"And sir?"

"Yes?"

"…Gibdan wasn't your fault."

X dashed, letting his head bow for a moment. "…Thanks."

"Alia out." She sounded hesitantly gentle as she disconnected.

Blowing a few hovering gripper-bots out of the air as they rushed down at him, X forged ahead.

* * *

Outside, a hulking Reploid was crouched behind a rock outcropping, tilting his head casually as fire chipped away at his cover near his cheek. Built with powerful arms and legs, a slender lower-abdomen, but then massive shoulders that curved up over his head, he was a blue-green behemoth. His head itself was forward-mounted from a slightly angled neck-base of hefty hydraulics. His face was a vented mask under pale blue eyes and a finned, back-slanted helmet. "Kid sure knows how to overdo it," he muttered, and snapped his arm into a rotary-missile launcher before twisting out of cover to return fire.

Another Reploid to his right, also leaving cover to fire back over the rock, chuckled faintly. "You mean charging into a firing line on a bike, or blowing the door open, Depthcharge?" He promptly ducked as more fire shot over him, giving an almost playful 'oh!' as he looked up at the shots that nearly killed him. The bladed crescent on his helmet and crimson body armor left him distinct among his comrades.

"Both, Quickman," Depthcharge answered before he twisted back into cover himself. He used his comrade's name like a bad joke. "Reminds me of you!"

Quickman laughed, then detached his head-cutter, gave Depthcharge a wicked optic-only grin, and snapped up with a twirling flurry. The blade-cutter was thrown wide, glittering into the distance instantly.

Ducking back down, Quickman continued, "You mean to say: incredibly stylish, skillful, and effective?"

His cutter flew in from the side of the far enemy firing line, and tore gun emplacements, mechaniloids, and a fare few boulders in half without slowing. The ease of pressure let the entire Eastern line of Maverick Hunters open fire again.

Depthcharge sighed. "At least you can back up that swagger."

Quickman actually made a, 'hee!' sound as his hand snapped up, catching the cutter flawlessly.

Depth looked around the rock again, more somber. "I do wonder what triggered this resurgence in Maverick activity, though."

Quickman's humor vanished, his optics looking blankly out from himself as he remained in cover for the moment. "Why do you think he led the charge himself? He knows this has to be… Sigma's doing."

"You really think it's making its move so soon? It's only been six months since X took Sigma down."

"Personally?" Quick began, some animation returning to his masked, flat-optic face as he looked over the rock. "I'm surprised it took this long."

* * *

Another hovering gripper-bot flew to pieces amidst fire and light as X came leaping down from a higher level. His armored boots banged off the pale gray flooring as he tucked into a roll. Boost-dashing out of his recovery, X's eyes glanced around, taking in the pale walls, yellow support struts, and the magnetic conveyor pulling parts of gripper-bots along to fabrication houses.

The Hunter bounded from the top of one fabricator to the next, watching optics, arms, and propellers being added in turn. He watched a fully active gripper come alive and start to rise up beyond the fourth fabricator, and it was already turning around to focus on him.

X aimed and fired one pulse-blast as he leapt the last gap. It chipped one blade off the gripper's propeller, and the hapless bot careened off into a wall with explosive force.

Landing beyond the conveyor, X ran forward, but skidded to an abrupt halt as a gate slammed down in front of him. It was a group of thick, hydraulic pistons, but these were made of green and gray metal armor, not like the rest of the facility.

"Emergency security gate mechaniloids," X muttered as his body shimmered and washed over with building power.

With a full charge, he grunted, lunging into a punch with his buster, firing on impact with the center pillar. It blew apart and liquefied in the same gesture. X didn't wait for the chunks to cool before he was flying through the hole he made, and dashing on.

Worker bots joined the battle, he was sad to see. They were little more than bipedal purple pods with tools like proboscis. He ignored most of them, dashing or flipping out of their meager attacks as his blaster took out more grippers and charged to melt-bomb more mechaniloid gates. The few he couldn't avoid, he destroyed with little guilt. While there was no need to slaughter innocent bots, something with less mental capacity than a normal desktop computer wasn't worth delaying his duty.

Still, the coldness of that determination sent a pang through his heart. With a cringe, he leapt over the last one standing in his way, and landed into a hand-flip.

Next he reached a vertical passage, but as he reached for the ladder, it snap-retracted up into the support struts of the roof dozens of meters above. X blinked, and then leapt to the wall, his legs ramming like pistons as he drove his boot-tips into the metal surface, driving himself up at nearly full running speed.

That was when the wall he was climbing and the one behind him started to crush together.

X nearly lost his grip from the first pitch of unnatural motion, but he started to boost-leap up between kick-climbs all the faster. At last, his optics spotted a bot hovering above. It was not a normal gripper-bot, but had a helicopter blade attachment like them. This one's gripping arms were several times longer, and were ratcheting the two halves of the vertical passage closed. The shear torque its tiny body had to be generating made X a little wary.

Starting to charge his buster, X dash-kicked skyward, spinning around in a shining spiral out from the wall, and he snapped his arm up at the wall-puller. A plasma wave ripped skyward, ramming X into a reverse spin as energy washed down around him from the release. The bot was erased as the walls halted, and X was thrown enough by his blast to slam into the same wall again.

He exhaled faintly, grimacing as he clung to the metal wall, and then looked up with determination. "Not done yet. Time to get serious, X."

With all four limbs shoving, he threw himself the last few meters of climb he needed, and dashed down the new hall beyond the vertical chamber.

"X," Alia's voice chimed into his comm again. She was grave, "a massive power surge just went off in that large fabrication cell."

"More bots?" X asked, a hand to his audio-sensor as he dashed, trading legs in lunging rushes.

"It's unified. A single, massive power source. It's going to be big."

X skidded to a halt at the end of the hall. At his feet was a sphere-lock gate leading straight down. The holographic overlay Alia had given him made it quite clear the fabrication chamber was directly below him, but it was a severe drop. Dozens of meters, perhaps close to a hundred. His expression, however, was cold, his eyes heavy. "…Thanks for the heads up. I'm going in."

"Yes, sir," Alia answered, but he could hear the concern in her voice.

X touched the sphere-lock, but honestly wasn't surprised when it just whirred to open for him. These doors always invited him in. With no further ado, he hopped lightly into the empty air, and started to drop at full speed down a narrow shaft. Darkness waited below him.

Air howled around his sensors and his body, almost whistling just before the shaft opened out into a massive cavern of a chamber. A combination of audio sensors and vague glints of light let X know a suspended scaffold platform was below him, and he crashed to his haunches with shuddering force.

Arms spread over his crouched frame, X raised his eyebrows down at the platform he was on. _I'm surprised it survived my landing on it that hard…_

Gold light washed over him as a resonating pulse-chime filled the chamber. X straightened, looking up into a pair of glowing optics so large he could have easily fit inside either of them.

At last the fabrication cell's lights clicked on in waves down to the floor level still several meters below. A massive mechaniloid was staring down at X. It had an armored, grim head, a massive, bulbous purple body, crushing boots, and massive spiked maces—more akin to demolition balls than weapons—for hands on the end of thick, bulbous arms comprised of linked, armored spheres.

X grimaced and dashed to his right. The behemoth lurched, swinging its right arm up, over, and down into the Reploid's platform. X barely leapt into the air in time to avoid the shattering collision that carried the tower of platforms down into the distant flooring.

Dive-rolling across the next, slightly higher platform, X snapped off a mildly charged bolt and three uncharged shots. The blue spear-like wave escorted the three pulse-blasts into the behemoth's collar area as it reared back.

Watching the plasma explosions dance over the thing's armored frame with mild, evanescing puffs of light, X firmed, and dash-leapt to a further platform, off the mechaniloid's rear, left.

The giant twisted around with one thunderous step, the tremor pulsing out through the factory, and actually making the Reploids outside check their feet and share worried or puzzled glances. With both arms swinging, the mechaniloid started to churn through the massive chamber in X's wake. The relatively tiny Reploid was flitting from platform to platform, a wave of shearing metal always behind him.

Charging as he leapt and dashed around the chamber, X kept firing purple-blue plasma waves up at the giant's optics. Most of his shots plowed into the metal beast's shoulders, neck, or mace-hands, but he saw a few rip through and churn into the thing's head. It was still heavily armored, but it felt the blows to the head.

"X! What on earth is going on in there!?" Alia came through his comm urgently.

Twist-flipping between the right mace-hand and a wall of scaffolding, X touched his audio-receptor. "Alia! Hard to explain right now. Massive mechaniloid! Can you read my location? Can you map me?"

At her station in Maverick Hunter HQ, Alia's hands blurred over her console, her eyes ripping along her screens with speed only a Reploid could muster. "Riding your comm signal now that I've found it. Mapping… Got it!"

X's overlay vision flashed with new data, a wave of golden light passing down all around him, showing the huge room at last, and it's relation to the ground outside.

He then had to dive, roll, and boost off the edge of his platform as the mechaniloid wrenched down with a full hand-slam to the ground right through the structure he'd been using. "Alia! I can't trust my comm in this room. Get Barrel to direct any similarly skilled Hunters outside. I want a perimeter cut four-hundred meters wide, and three-hundred long, starting from the fortress' East wall!" X shouted the requests as he blitzed and leapt around collapsing platforms trying to get away from the behemoth before it crushed him by sheer luck and magnitude.

Alia blinked. "…X, that would take hours to-!?"

"Not for Barrel!"

"On it!"

Outside, Barrel touched his ear, an optic-ridge snapping up. Muttering, "Sheesh, kid, that's a tall order," he twisted, and pointed straight through his fellows to a hulking Reploid at the back of their group. They were several hundred meters North of Quickman and Depthcharge.

"Tunnel Rhino! You're up. We've got a ditch to dig, and we need it done yesterday!"

The aptly named yellow, green, and silver Reploid didn't run forward, he rolled forward on tread-wheels in his heels, his right hand a massive drill like his horn, more drills adorning his body already revving to full speed. "On it!"

Barrel ran out with him, suddenly whirling into a dive roll that intensified so abruptly with plasma shields arcing out of his forearms that he became a living plasma-drill.

He slammed into the ground, blowing a hole out instantly, and then wrenched to the East. Tunnel Rhino leapt in behind him, but twisted West, and burrowed hard and fast. The ditch was exploding to life exactly as X had requested.

* * *

"You weren't kidding, X," Alia muttered, sincerely agape as she watched two Reploids tear through rock and sand like it was air.

"Are they done!?" X shouted abruptly.

"N-not quite, but soon. What's the pla—" Alia cut herself off, and slammed her hand over her controls to open her channel. "Hunters, check your targets! Incoming from the wall!"

* * *

Barrel was just arcing up from the last leg of the ditch, unraveling with surprising grace to look up at the wall as it exploded outward. His optics flared. Quickman and Depthcharge gawked out of cover in uncharacteristic shock along with virtually every Hunter surrounding the fortress.

The giant Mechaniloid was tearing through the wall in mid-lunge, X riding the mace-hand by clinging to one spike on it, and flailing along like a rag-doll. Building-size chunks of metal and armored bulkhead rained down over the field within the massive ditch even as the mechaniloid lumbered up onto the higher level of the dirt ground from its sunken home.

X simply flipped over the mace as it hit the ground, and leapt free, tumbling into a tight roll, and halting with one hand and knee down, his other snapping into his buster. Touching his comm, he ordered, "Heavy weapons at the optics and head. Tangling or disabling weapons at the legs. Bring it down!"

He side-dashed instantly, the other mace-hand shattering the ground where'd crouched to give the orders.

Hails of plasma fire, missiles, and other weapon types started to stream into the behemoth's head, rattling it and weakening it. Whips, vines, plasma-tethers, and other tricks started to lash out, attach, stick, or spray the massive feet as well. Even Quickman's cutter glittered past on occasion, slicing grooves into the beast's armor. X joined the effort, dashing circles around the giant, firing charged waves up at its head as best he could without becoming a sitting target.

"Why are we taking orders from a B-class Hunter?" a Hunter asked, not so much angry as confused as he unleaded his plasma cannon from his shoulder mount at the giant.

A Reploid of hefty frame with energy crackling out of cannons on his wrists smirked at his comrade. "You don't recognize Megaman X, kid?"

"W-well, I mean, I get he's a hero, but…"

"Hero? Yes, but that's not the point." Overload rammed his arms forward, and fired a crackling wave of electrified plasma across the field, landing a solid hit straight in the giant's right optic. "You're watching the best Hunter still living, kid. He's technically the same rank as most of us on the field today." He fired again, less fortunately hitting the massive right arm. "I don't care. I'll listen to him."

"Got it," the other replied, firing another blast, smiling.

* * *

Quickman touched his audio-receptor, but his channel was private. /X, I've weakened the armor around his head, but we're just not hitting hard enough. We need something to generate enough raw force to crack the stress fractures./

X's eyes tightened, and he lowered his buster, though he continued to hold the charge making his body glow. /Understood. I've got an idea./

Still the giant's primary target for some reason, X looked up as he dashed low along the ground, and watched the behemoth come rushing down with both fists. Calculating quickly, X dashed again, but then twisted and skidded to stop. The two maces smashed down with thunderous force… the cracked earth stopping just at X's face.

The Reploid leapt free, landing on the left-hand mace. As the giant retracted, trying to rise as it was hammered from every side by the Hunter forces, it glowered down at X, who was meeting its gaze with surprising strength considering their relative scales as he stood on the rising hand.

The mechaniloid tried to whip X off behind itself, but he flipped down, crashing to his haunches on its shoulder. He ducked some friendly fire, but showed no aggravation, and ran up, leaping into the frame of the left optic.

"Right here!" he shouted at the giant's gaze.

The beast gave a mechanical roar beneath it's armored mask, and started to flail around, trying to swing X off of its head.

In a mad dance, X flipped, twisted, writhed, and coiled around the giant's head as it swung wildly, firing small blasts into its armored skull from every angle as he did. "What's wrong? I'm right here!"

A massive blast from one of the Hunters below caught the giant right in the forehead, and it actually reared back. X swung back into its gaze, aiming point-blank at the optic while charging.

With another roar, the giant swung its left mace up and in at its own face.

X seemed to ignore the problem, but then dashed leapt to his right, into the open air.

Everyone watched as the behemoth shattered its own head with catastrophic force, the mace driving down into the neck and upper back like a meteor hammer.

X's colors changed, and he unleashed a fully charged tornado around himself, gently touching down on the ground with its help, crouching to one knee as his colors reverted.

The beast's body gave a dying moan, and started to collapse back into the factory as it exploded in waves and patterns, its core systems overloading from the back-charge of the head vanishing.

Before the ground was even done shaking from its crash, the Hunters were filling the air with cheers and hollers of victory.

All except X and his secret comrades, the X-Hunters. Barrel, Quickman, Overload, Depthcharge, and Deep Freeze, Shimmer, Inferno, and Airstrike were all scattered through the small army, sharing grim looks if they could catch each other.

X looked over his shoulder, stern as his buster reverted. _Too big to just be a random outbreak. He's on the move again._

* * *

A holo-sphere showed the battlefield, and particularly focused on Megaman X as he stood up, dusting himself off a bit. As the Hunter touched his ear and started to talk to someone, a voice spoke from the audience of the strange display.

"Their leader in the metal. Megaman X. More clever than I'd postulated…" Serges trailed off as his pale hand articulated out and shut the sphere off. Dull lightning returned to the dark gray metal room, consoles lining the walls.

Violen, a red and white behemoth, added in his thick, strong voice, "Those who underestimated him are nothing but scrap. Did you expect the Hunter who defeated Sigma to be easily fooled?"

And a third voice, silk-smooth compared to the others, but cold as ice, "We won't make the same mistake. He is powerful, but he is blind to what is happening around him." Agile smiled faintly at the wake of the holo-sphere, his hands clasped behind his narrow back, his purple armored skin fashioned like a tail-coat.

Serges focused his mismatched, crimson optics on the thin one, "Is he? The information leaked to their Dr. Cain only indicated an isolated infection, yet X chose to respond with an army."

Agile's silken voice was silent for a core-pulse, then added, "Our Mavericks will keep him busy until we are ready."

Serges turned, walking between his colleagues, and continued, "We hope. Collection is on schedule, but the core components are missing. The system buffer and personality matrix chip."

Agile and Violen firmed, Agile adding, "We have little time. We must finish construction on schedule. We must hurry…"

* * *

Author's Note:

Finally here, eh? My apologies to the X Chronicles fans who've waited so long for this to get rolling. Chronicle 2 has proven tough to properly latch down and develop. It has equal parts setup and its own contained arc, so it's more likely writing 5 stories at the same time to make sure it doesn't break something. I'm now confident enough in the work I've put into it to start posting it!

And you can thank 89niners-best-team-ever for Green Biker Dude making it into the story! I went through a few iterations of him, and Gibdan (yes, GBD turned into a name) was the version that rung the truest to the goal of the story. It provided a nice, harsh start to the story, too, so thanks from me directly 89niners-best-team-ever

I'd also like to give a thank you shout-out to Karra Greenfield, who gave me the beta-reader feedback I needed on some very early draft work that helped the story focus in on the needed details.

Currently I hope to update this story every 2 weeks. If things accelerate, I'll bump it down to every week, but can't guarantee that right now.

Thanks all! I hope you're enjoying Chronicle 2 so far!


	2. Chapter 2: Imperfect Storm

Chapter 2: "Imperfect Storm"

Dr. Cain's eyes were tight as they reflected the holographic display over the table in front of him, a hand stroking his long, frosty beard. Alia stood at the left side of the table from him, datapad in the crook of her arm, with Dex at her side. The faceplate-armored Reploid was entering data into the table's console. Opposite was Signas, already wearing officer markings in the few short months since Sigma's fall.

Their grim attention was pulled to the door of Maverick Hunter headquarters' command center, X walking through briskly. Parts of his armor were still scuffed and dented from his foray through the factory. "Please tell me we know something, and that I'm cleared for it?"

Signas' expression was unreadable beyond his optics following the legendary yet B-class Hunter. Alia tried to offer a gentle smile, but remained silent with Dex for the moment.

It allowed Dr. Cain to respond, his hand falling from his beard to rest on his cane's handle with the other. "Indeed, X. There's no reason to exclude the hero of the hour. Lieutenant Alia and her comrades were just starting their report."

X tipped his head, and stood opposite the doctor, hands on the edge of the table. Alia was struck by the sudden maturity etched through the Reploid's face, and the strangely heavy weight that seemed to press down on his relatively small frame. "Please continue?" he asked, optics on her.

Alia nodded, and raised her datapad. Dex started typing again. "The important parts are as follows: the factory's activity was normal until a data-access from long distance seventy-two hours ago. At first there was no cause for alarm, which is why we weren't called for the first forty-eight hours. That contact originated from a cybernetics facility from an island several hundred miles North, in the ocean, near the polar region."

The holotable, thanks to Dex, whirled across a hybrid satellite and topographical, 3D map, revealing the vaguely rectangular island, and its rather conspicuously green, hilly geography.

Signas spoke up at this point, his smooth voice utterly calm. "It was a hub of scientific research up to about five years ago. The entire island. A financial crash forced investment out, and it all but collapsed as a small country. Beyond some pockets of civilian population still living there, nothing has come out of that island since Sigma launched his attack."

X shared a meaningful gaze with Signas for a core-pulse, then looked to Alia again, "Not that it matters, but why isn't the place iced over?"

Alia actually gestured to Dr. Cain, who answered, "Weather-control experiments focused on terraforming inhospitable environments for greater civilian use. They proved difficult to mass-produce, so it was reduced to a quirk of the island. It actually has several distinct environmental zones otherwise impossible on an island of its size and location."

X tipped his head. "Do we have the cybernetics facility's location?"

Dex looked up finally. "Yes, sir. Here."

The map shifted, highlighting a portion of cityscape near the central region of the island.

Thunder rolled in the distance. X's head tilted faintly, only because it took particularly heavy thunder to really penetrate the armored walls of the fortress they called their base. Dismissing it quickly, he nodded to Dex. "Thanks. Dr. Cain? May I ask who we're sending?"

The only human present smirked faintly. "Containment first, X. I'm getting authorization from the human authorities to sever that facility's connection to the network entirely. Neutered, we can then send in a strike force to resolve the issue."

It was clear to everyone in the large room that X was consciously constraining his desire to challenge the point. "…Might I request being on that team then?"

"I'll consider it, X. You're certainly valuable for just that sort of mission. For now, however, this is best suited to Alia and her talented team."

X relaxed upright, nodding. He gave Alia a smile. He was about to say something when klaxons sounded, and red alerts flashed across the walls. Almost at the same time, the building trembled from a staccato assault of impacts all around its sides.

Nothing was said yet, because it wasn't needed. Alia and Dex were at consoles behind Dr. Cain like blurs, the scientist twisting around and marching up after them.

X and Signas ran out of the room. "The roof!" X suggested quickly.

Maverick Hunters were scrambling to battle stations, but it was clear no one knew exactly what was happening.

Alia's optics widened just as X and Signas burst out onto the roof of the building. Even Signas' normal composure lapsed into awe.

The sky was broiling with almost black clouds, sheet lightning streaming through it like waves in an ocean. Fracturing lattices of dancing light were pouring down, berating the city all around them. Claws of it were scraping and crashing into the massive Maverick Hunter base constantly. Disaster sirens were sounding across the city.

X's hand snapped to his audio receptor. "Alia! Talk to me!"

Alia touched her ear as well, "Massive storm system! It's over the entire city, and I've never seen patterns like this! I'm trying to get a scan put together that can make sense of this, possibly get a source!"

Dex added, "I'm confirming weather reports. This entire system just kicked up within the last hour. I'm networking to meteorological centers, and they're all lost. This isn't natural."

Dr. Cain's eyes sharpened harshly. "X… that question you asked…"

X's face fell serious as well. "Weather manipulation."

Alia had already been working furiously at her console. "…Yes, confirmed! The anomalous weather patterns and pressure currents track all the way back to the same island! It spanned half the planet in less than an hour!"

Signas glanced over his shoulder to X on the roof. "They didn't just perfect it, they weaponized it."

Then they froze again. Humans and Reploids hurrying on the streets below and throughout the buildings, even within headquarters where they could get a view of the outside, all halted, stunned by horror.

Tornadoes were swirling into life, churning through lightning, and starting to reach down like voracious worms.

X's colors flashed with purple highlights, energy starting to dance over his body. "Alia, Dex, I need a crash-course in meteorological systems. We need to break the storm, and it has to happen now!"

He was already dashing and leaping off the roof, blasting a charged tornado of his own from his buster.

As X's cyclone crashed into and tore apart one of the ones forming from the sky, Signas touched his comm. "Wait, Alia, Dr. Cain, we need that cybernetics facility shut down."

X grimaced. "…He's right. This is a distraction, but we can't ignore it. Someone get that facility cut off!" He fired another tornado as he leapt across another building, dashing for the next tornado. "And we need support out here. Any kind of wind, pressure, or electrical abilities!"

Privately, he added, /Airstrike, Overload! Mobilize anyone you can trust! We have to dissipate this storm system!/

Dex was scrambling his hands over his console. "X, sir, patching you into meteorological databases."

Dr. Cain was over at Alia's console as she started to hack into the network. The human had a comm device at his face.

"Yes, I know you have a disaster in progress! And if you don't give me the clearance I need, it's going to get unimaginably worse! Give us the authorization!"

Alia wasn't waiting, and Dr. Cain wasn't reprimanding her for it.

* * *

Maverick Hunters were mobilizing across the city. Ones with abilities that could, fired their unique weapons up, disrupting the electric charges, or ripping open wind currents, trying to break the storm system out of its building ferocity.

Airstrike ripped up through the clouds directly, narrowly slipping between charged masses of lightning, and then swirled around. He unleashed a mini-hurricane around himself, blowing a hole in the storm to the West of headquarters.

Overload was actually letting lightning hit his open hands, his body thrumming with power, before he sent it hurtling up in shimmering masses into the storm system. The cross-currents of power caused the most alien ripples in the clouds, forcing them to still for a core-pulse before they just shivered apart.

Others, like Shimmer and Deepfreeze were already rushing civilians to armored bunkers as lightning scattered down the streets.

* * *

X landed to a hard crouch on a building North of headquarters, looking back across the city. Signas had gone back down into the fortress to help with logistics.

_For something this devastating to just be a distraction… what on earth is the virus trying to do now? We have no time. Months of waiting, and we have no time._ X view fell down on the streets, watching civilians run in near-panic as human authorities and Reploids tried to help guide them to safety. _So many lives put at stake for this insanity._

As he considered the gravity of the situation, his processor was working through the data Dex had routed to him. Dex had even cracked some files from the old records of the experiments from the island. The system was based primarily on manipulating energy currents to create fake high/low pressure wind surges. If calculated correctly, the surge could be guided… creating pin-point weather. The charge in the air was unnatural, too powerful and too caustic.

X touched his comm as he blasted another tornado apart. "We need a massive electric charge guided into the central matrix of the storm. I'm relaying coordinates across the Hunter network now." He started to dash and leap across the buildings back toward Maverick Hunter headquarters. His colors snapped, the purple highlights shifting to off-yellow, energy crackling out of his buster. As his body started to glow, he added, "Overload, Volt Catfish, anyone with electrical energy weapons, get to my location, or somewhere you can aim at me. I'm going to redirect that energy into the storm!"

Alia's hands stuttered on her console, but only for a core-pulse. _He's going to try to control and direct that kind of energy through his body?_

Signas comm'd in as a concerned Hunter, "X, sir, are you sure?"

X arced into a great leap onto headquarters once again, skidding to a halt. "Completely. Energy absorption and redirection is kinda my thing."

That he could chance a bit of humor helped ease the violent tension, and more than one Hunter was starting to smile with some confidence again.

* * *

Dr. Cain was trying to pay attention, but was focused on his task more so. "Finally! Thank you! You won't regret it." He cut off his device, and leaned down beside Alia. "We have full authorization. Code verification alpha-tango, zero-five-eight dash four."

Alia smiled faintly. "Just in time to keep me legal. Thanks, Dr. Cain."

Her index finger finished the last entry.

Rushing across the network, through the ocean, and over the island, the glistening computer facility shuddered from a lack of power. Its own generators kicked in soon, but its connection was severed.

Signas looked up from the holotable where he was helping direct teams of Hunters. "Excellent work, Alia. As always, of course."

She smiled over her shoulder at him, but then got up, and started to run out of the room. "Now give me a minute. I need to make sure X doesn't fry himself."

Dr. Cain and Signas blinked at each other, and then Signas twisted. His composure was broken as he awkwardly reached after, then started to chase Alia. "Wait! Lieutenant!"

"He doesn't need an operator now, he needs a friend!" she called back.

Dex only glanced over his shoulder as Signas chased Alia out. _True enough, too. He's already put the data to use. Remarkable, X. From saving me from Boom Kuwanger, to learning how to disrupt a storm system in a few minutes. I wish I had that kind of clout._

Dr. Cain was left looking out grimly, focused on Alia's screen showing X on the roof, streams of electricity already flowing into the unique Reploid's tense body. _You are certain, though, aren't you, X? I hope you're not tossing your life away like you were against Sigma at every turn. Don't you remember what that kind of brashness cost you?_

* * *

Overload leapt up onto a neighboring rooftop, his forearms already crackling with power. "X!" he shouted up to the secret leader of their team.

X, all but an effigy of energy himself due to the surging power already engulfing his body from the other Reploids helping, turned and reached his buster toward Overload. The other Hunter rammed his arms up, unleashing a blasting torrent of power into X's waiting arm.

With six other Reploids feeding power into him, X floated off the roof of Maverick Hunter headquarters, and started to aim his buster up at the charged core of the storm. His view was overlaid with meteorological data, showing a storm of differently colored particles swirling into a spherical shape within the clouds.

Alia and Signas burst out onto the roof, Alia gaping at the sight.

X fired. Ring-waves of super-charged energy pulsed out in a concentric pulse just before a surge of energy followed. It was nearly the width of the building itself, rushing up and out, blasting clouds and lightning away, gutting the storm.

Alia looked on, the power and light glistening in her optics. "Absorbing and redirecting that much power into a storm to counteract its pressure system. He really is amazing…"

Signas glanced at her. "Not to run X down, as he's quite a remarkable Reploid, no doubt, but isn't this really more Dr. Light's skill paying off?"

Alia's gaze tightened, and a faint cringe marked her face. "…I suppose it is, but I don't think even with a body that could that I'd be so quick to throw myself into a power-conversion of that scale…"

Allowing himself a private smirk, Signas looked on himself, whispering, "True enough."

And it was working. The storm was already softening, smoothing out like an ocean made still by a perfectly placed splash. Dex watched the data on his screen as the charges neutralized, and the particles began to disperse evenly, naturally.

In just seconds, the sky was clearing, blue atmosphere blinking through wisps of synthetic clouds.

The Reploids helping X ended their channeling powers. Each of them collapsed in their own ways, Overload down on one knee, a hand to his chestplate as his core tried to recharge his weapon and life systems.

X's glowing frame faded, his boots touching the cement roof, and he finally stopped firing. His arms swung down at his sides heavily, his buster reverting to a hand. He watched the storm fully disperse, and started to turn around. His systems blared in protest, his motors whirring and clicking irately.

Alia watched him turn, concern growing every second. When X's eyes, haggard and almost glassy from deep exhaustion, met hers, she ran forward, hands out. Dr. Light's final creation started to collapse, Alia's white hands catching him, then wrapping around him as a support.

Signas was there the next instant, both of them easing X down onto his knees.

"I… think I overdid it… a bit," X breathed out.

"You think?" Alia offered, her almost joking tone belying her fear for his safety. "Let's get you to a repair chamber, X."

X grimaced, trying to raise one leg as his hands clenched over their shoulders. "I… need to get to… that island…"

"X, easy now," Alia continued, Signas holding steady with her. "You need repairs. You never recovered from the factory battle, and you just channeled a catastrophic surge of power through your systems. Dr. Light's genius not withstanding, you need the rest."

"But that island is in…"

Signas cut in, "X, she's right. Listen to her. We'll make sure you're included in the mission to the island."

Alia smiled at Signas for the help, and added, "I'll teleport you there myself, X. Please, let us get you to a repair chamber?"

X at last relented, his head hanging down as his body went limp. When he allowed himself, his body finally agreed with his friends, and knocked him out.

"Thanks," Alia muttered to Signas, starting to heft X up higher.

Signas rose with her. "No problem. He gets too stubborn sometimes. I'll carry him, ma'am."

Alia's hand touched Signas' chest, and their eyes locked. "Let me, please."

Signas raised an eyebrow, but eased back as Alia lifted X up into her arms, and started to carry him off the roof.

"I owe him one," she whispered seriously.

* * *

"That storm was suppose to cause enough damage to buy us weeks. They resolved it in an _hour_," Agile declared, rare anger tightening his narrow face.

Serges gave his comrade a dry stare, "_He_ resolved it in an hour. No other Reploid could channel that kind of power, and so precisely. Cutting off our network access as swiftly as they did also means they didn't fall for the gamble in the first place."

Agile leaned over the holotable still showing the cityscape with the clear skies, "We need more time!"

Violen stomped closer, arms crossing over his barrel chest. "We still have our Mavericks."

Serges nodded, shutting the table down again. "Indeed. If they're worth their metal, X will be occupied quite well. If not… we may have to intervene directly."

Agile rose up to his full height again. "Which would be an unacceptable risk to the reunification."

"Agreed," Serge rejoined, aggravation rising in his voice. "So let's hope we chose our force wisely. Now get to work. We have to move the important machinery deeper. They only know about the upper level of the facility, not the core."

And the three dispersed.

* * *

"Hey, sleepy-head."

It was a beautiful voice, gentle and fond, like silk brushing over his ears. A warm hand was washing back through his hair as well, coaxing him awake in the most wonderful way.

X opened his glistening, human eyes, and found Alia looking down at him. No armor framed her beautiful face, or held back her golden hair. She was just smiling down at him, clothed in a soft red dress. "Hi," X responded softly, a human hand reaching up, and caressing her cheek.

Alia smiled happily, and tilted her cheek into his palm. They were on a bench, in a park somewhere, a tree softening the bright sun above them with its foliage. X's head was in her lap, one of her hands gently caressing his short, brown hair. They were both completely human.

"Dr. Light was looking for you," Alia explained, her voice still soft and happy.

X was a bit confused, part of his mind realizing that didn't make sense. "…How…?"

The beautiful vision smiled for him again. "It's okay, X. Wake up."

* * *

X snapped online, his body pitching forward inside the restoration module at headquarters. His respirator thrummed with deeper breath as his optics danced around, his mind trying to sort through the confusing, fantastical dream. At last, he calmed, and looked at his right hand. The gloved machinery whirred like a whisper as he closed it into a soft fist. _…A dream… I didn't realize I was feeling it so intensely. I guess I've just been dodging the issue so much even my mental processor had to force me to see it._

Alia had always been a wonderful Reploid in his eyes. Despite the horrors surrounding their first meeting, she had always struck him with her strength and determination. And she was practically the smartest person he knew, Reploid or otherwise. It was after losing Zero, and all the secretive work with his team of reformed Mavericks that made X value her friendship more and more. She was really the only person he knew that was trying to reach out to him as a friend no matter the situation. It would have been easy to blame him for Zero's death, and he knew many Hunters did, but couldn't argue his success enough to really get nasty about it.

Yet, Alia never had. He could well believe the thought never crossed her mind with how completely kind she was to him. It was vital to him now, her good opinion, knowing she was alive, well, and a friend to him. If he lost her, too…

Images of the human woman dying in his arms flashed through his mind, making him cringe and look down to the side. Then Zero's face just before he made his own core go critical against Vile.

X's fist slammed against the side of the pod. _I can't protect everyone. Even when they're right in front of me… Alia…_

As his mind calmed a bit, really only a few seconds passing since he woke up, X realized he felt something with his processor. Something he'd not felt since the war against Sigma's armies. As the pod opened at last, and he stepped out, his brow creased more.

Capsules. More modification capsules from Dr. Light. He could feel them with his sensor systems, like dull radar pings. And these were clustered. It was hard to tell how many, because they were all North, far North.

Confused, X walked over to a console in the bulkhead of the medical chamber. He was alone for the moment, and so he opened the console's holo-display, and activated a map. He programmed it quickly to show the island from the briefing. His sense of the capsules intensified, as it had for the original four. He reached his hand out, 'feeling' the map as his sense automatically adapted to the map data.

_Yes… four new capsules. All near or on this island. How on earth could Dr. Light have prepared THIS?_ His optics tightened at the area where the weather-control facility was located. _None of them are near the facility though. Damn, the timing for locating these ones is going to be very tight. Once we're on that island, I can't return to the X-Hunter bunker easily. I hope I can afford to wait on picking these up, Dr. Light… and I hope they have enough information to answer some questions._

He closed the console, and as if by cue, his comm beeped. X touched his audio-sensor. "I'm active, what's up?"

Alia's voice pleasantly answered, "Glad to hear it. As promised, I've got your transport to the island prepped and ready, X. Feeling up for it?"

He smiled for several reason, and nodded physically as he replied, "Absolutely. Heading to the transport grid now. …And Alia?"

"…Yes?" her voice was still pleasant, just gently confused.

"…Thanks for making me repair."

She giggled gently. "No problem."

X let himself smile, though part of his heart ached from the dream he'd seen, and he ran out of the room as the comm clicked off.

* * *

Airstrike adjusted some controls at his command console on the bridge. It was one of the Hunters' defense carriers, a medium-sized fleet craft, which was to say it was 'only' four-hundred meters stem to stern. His success during the final battle against Sigma's forces led to Airstrike almost immediately being promoted to full-time captain of his own ship, and his crew were relieved by the posting. Though he was technically the least experienced captain in the Maverick Hunters' armada, his tactical and aerial combat expertise were second to none. The admiral of the fleet, Skiver, was already on record as saying he usually defaulted his tactics to Airstrike's recommendations.

At the moment, the ship was serving alone for the new mission. Dr. Cain walked up, his cane tapping gently on the flooring, and stood just back and to the Reploid's right.

"You certainly do run a tight ship, as the saying goes, Captain Airstrike."

The pale Reploid offered a smile over his shoulder. "Much appreciated, sir. Please pardon the lack of salute, I'm programming the correct take-off vector at this time."

"Absolutely, carry on, Airstrike. I assume X is underway?"

Alia was just walking up to join them. "Yes, sir. His teleportation field should touch down in moments, actually. …And thank you for letting him go. It means a lot to him."

Dr. Cain gave her a knowing smile. "I'll admit, I thought it might do some good to hold him back with the rest of the task-force we're deploying, but you were right. His prowess and previous record make him a natural choice for initial infiltration. Especially his success with keeping hostages alive."

Alia smiled, but she felt compelled to give a glance to Signas, who was operating at a console on the far right of the bridge. _I had hoped to just appeal to Dr. Cain for X's sake, but Signas recommended the previous successes. I'm glad I listened._

"Any further progress on the situation with the island?" Dr. Cain continued.

Alia came closer, offering her datapad to him, which he accepted with one hand off his cane. "Yes, though limited. Something hit hard and fast all over the island's infrastructure. We can't get any communications going. That computer facility was all but the only link to the outside world or networks. Satellite imagery still shows plenty of civilians living normally, but most of them are far from the important installations across the island. Those are conspicuously quiet. Further, some kind of interference is preventing the proper detail in our satellite feeds. We can only get a birds-eye view, nothing deeper yet."

Dr. Cain nodded, and returned the pad to her. "So I see. Captain? What's our ETA on the island?"

Airstrike half-turned, the ship already starting to fly out over the city. "Just under a day. I trust X to hold the fort that long, at least."

They shared a bit of the wry humor, and Alia returned to her console near Signas as the ship accelerated North.

* * *

Author's Note: Chronicles 2 has thus far proven an interesting plot for me personally. Each idea gave me paths to follow, but each path made the story a bit more elaborate and involved. This new-to-story storm attack is one such example. Those with experience from the second game will likely see where I'm pushing the story with weather-control tech, but for the moment it's just a backdrop. The real charm here is Alia's true return to the plot.

I've always liked Alia, and found her dismissal from major events a bit jarring, like with most of the secondary characters. X 4 did a lot to improve secondary character interaction, but the earlier games could be easily confused as a lone Reploid in the entire world fighting evil monsters. Choosing to include Alia in Chronicle 1 logically pushed her into the story throughout the series as-planned.

I also wanted to give Signas some page time, as he received very little, being introduced so late into the end of Chronicle 1.

I hope the story is still entertaining thus far, and see you in two weeks! Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favs, everyone. They keep me going!


	3. Chapter 3: Cutting Vines

Chapter 3: "Cutting Vines"

A blue glimmer of light shot down like a single raindrop from the mild clouds. It hit, bulged, and burst open to reveal X's crouching form. He raised his head, steam rising off the ground around him, and he saw the weather-control facility looming beyond. Part fortress, part lab, and part walled-off park, it was a massive edifice. The dark metal wall with lightning-rod spires ahead of him was not what made X's insides twist with nausea.

The field he had landed in just outside the facility was littered with bodies. Mostly human, though a few Reploids were scorched and broken among them. By the charcoal streaks across the ground and the nature of the bodies, it was clear a sheet of lightning had come down on them as they were fleeing the facility.

Even with their features mostly charred away, they were frozen in horror and pain. One particular body was locked on the ground, reaching out, trying to crawl away as the face screamed silently in a deathless echo of its owner's last moments.

X's fists clenched, and he ran forward. He pinged his sensors across the area, but wasn't really surprised when no active heartbeats or core-pulses reached back. At the large metal ingress at the foot of the wall, X touched the control on its right frame, and reached to his audio receptor. "Alia, I'm at the facility. Do we have any data on its security protocols?"

"I'm sorry, no. The information was deliberately limited off the island due to concern of terrorist attacks. This was before Mavericks became a major threat. You're not interfacing directly, right? At least a buffer in place?"

X smiled faintly at her concerned tone. "Just like you taught me, don't worry."

It was an internal buffer, but it allowed him to network with a device without exposing his internal data core and processor. His hand glowed faintly as he began, the console shimmering in response. Rapid calculations scrolled through X's view, working on cracking the code-lock.

Eyes tightened, X realized, "It's readapting the code every ten-thousand permutations. Sophisticated stuff. Was this island some kind of brain-trust?"

The adaptive code would make direct cracking impossible. He had to determine the algorithm, or bypass the door entirely. Announcing himself spectacularly by blowing the door out wasn't the best start to infiltrating a possible hostage situation (he tried to ignore the voice whispering how unlikely it would be to find survivors). Instead, he changed tactics. He wasn't cracking the code to get in, he was battling with it to learn its method, backward engineer the algorithm.

It was like watching two schools of fish try to crash into each other in a confined space. Dizzying, maddening minutiae constantly adapting, changing, shifting.

"…There it is," he whispered at last. The permutation was adapting in cycles in predictable ways. A clever trick, but not as sophisticated as he'd first feared. _I wonder if it was a scientist showing off more than a security precaution._

With the pattern revealed, he modified his permutations, and actually turned the security against itself. In a few more second, it gave him the code by its own adaptation, and the console blinked to life, ready and waiting.

The glow faded from X's hand, and he just pressed the main control key. The door hissed open with surprising ease, and he walked inside. "Alia? I'm in."

"Quick work, X. I'm impressed. Maybe you don't need an operator these days?"

X smirked. "Right. Now what can you tell me about weather-control system here? I'd prefer not to let the island flash-freeze if we can avoid it."

"Exactly. The data we hacked and finally got released from the authorities gives us a pretty good idea of the system. It was a network of control systems routed throughout the facility. They should basically resemble spheres on pedestals, with control consoles nearby. Likely in secured rooms. I'm sorry for the lack of detail. I have an old map of the facility, but our satellite feed already shows its woefully out of date."

X stepped out of the dark entry hall, and into an almost tropical rain-forest area. The immersion would have been complete if not for the glaring white metal walls and ceiling. "Toss it my way. It's better than nothing."

"You got it."

The map reached his data display, and overlaid with his view. Red shapes formed where the map was clearly wrong, expecting walls or hallways that weren't there. However, it did seem to mesh with the wall further ahead, behind some trees, and it indicated where a chamber awaited. "I think I have a place to start. X out."

"Be careful."

"I will."

Keeping quiet, X flitted through the brush and trees without his boost-system. Despite the occasional ping or hiss from his body, he was surprisingly silent.

Hearing propeller blades above, X flattened against a tree, and looked skyward. A strange mechaniloid security drone was hovering along. It looked like a humanoid torso with a claw where the waist would be, holding some kind of glass device. It lingered over him ominously for several moments, and then finally drifted off.

X shook his head, and snuck further along. The 'chamber' he discovered made him pause and blink. It was like a giant tree-trunk, but with a hallway cut out of its core. And inside that hall was a slightly larger area, serving as a control room of some kind. One of the sphere-devices was waiting in the center.

Glancing around for patrolling bots, X leapt across the open span of field, and ducked into the hall silently. Once he was sure it was still clear, he moved to the chamber, and took stock. Consoles lined to the two walls, with thick piping leading into the base of the glass-like sphere. It was a strange, metallic, almost cloudy material, and he could vaguely see machinery within it.

Hoping to scan the device, X's hand reached out, but he froze, eyes sharpening. His system flared with warnings from a deeply embedded core program. A gift from Dr. Light. The sphere would react badly to touch, even just for a scan.

Giving up on that method, X moved to the nearest console. It was inactive, which meant he had to turn it on to make any progress. Starting to turn things on would draw far more attention than he wanted yet.

Beyond the fake jungle, the facility was disturbingly silent. The quiet of death was starting to unnerve him, especially after the carnage outside.

Calibrating a secure comm-channel, X spoke without using his vocal emitter, /Alia, do you read me still? I found one of the orb-devices, but it's completely inactive. Security is tight here. Any information?/

/Alia here, X. I'm sorry, the information just isn't out there. The facility was basically dismissed by the human authorities just before the Sigma uprising, and so no follow-up was done. I think you made the right call to leave it alone for now. Without any understanding of their current security protocols, it's probably better to try to get deeper into the facility and find something more accessible./

X frowned at the room around him. /Roger that. Moving out./

Cutting the connection, he moved through the room, to the far side, and took a glance around for patrolling hover-bots.

Then alerts chimed through the chamber, making X's eyes flare. He snapped around, bracing for a fight. The orb was starting to crackle and shimmer with electrical power.

With a quick look out again, he saw that the hover-bots in the distance were not moving any faster yet. They were simply maintaining their routine. "…Then what's—!?" X cut himself off and dove out of the room, rolling into the bushes as the orb exploded with power.

The entire chamber filled with crackling, surging energy that channeled up the tree-like pillar surrounding it, and then burst out across the roof.

X looked up, realization relaxing his expression. Storm clouds were swirling to life inside the large garden-chamber, and rain began to pour down in cool, refreshing sheets. _Of course! I'm an idiot. It's a weather-control lab! It must be doing an automated test. I have to get deeper then. This station won't have facility-controls, just maintenance data._

A bit relieved at the information revealing itself for him, X quickly shifted through the rain-soaked jungle, toward the opposite side of where he entered. It was just a guess from the size of the facility. If there was going to be a hall or doorway leading deeper, it was likely there. At least he could start there.

* * *

A screen winked on in darkness. It was of similar style to the ones around the orb X had visited. And this one was glistening in the reflection of two optics, sharp in design, and the color of human blood in their irises. "Better at sneaking than I'd calculated," a highly filtered voice rasped, as if it was coming through a low-quality speaker. A respirator was heavily cycling with it, as if speaking was difficult.

"No matter. Time for the direct approach. Lab security to full alert. We have a terrorist infiltration in hydroponic weather lab five."

* * *

Before X could reach the far side of the lab-forest, klaxons filled the air, echoing awkwardly through the trees and rain. He froze, glancing down and around for hidden sensor bars he had somehow missed. There was nothing. "How did—!?"

He didn't look, he heard it above him. X dove forward, rolling through a wall of brush as one of the crystal balls fell down from a hover-bot. X risked a glance through the hole he tore in the plants, and saw the ball shatter on impact, leaving a cactus-like plant that was crackling with electrical energy.

Thunder rolled above, but it was oddly tinny. Thunder in microcosm.

"Grounding source!" X exclaimed, and shoved himself up and backward, twisting to dash full-speed for his destination.

At least eight different forks of lightning came ripping out of the sky, and tore into the jungle all around the lightning-plant. It was like a targeting system for the storm.

"I'm not sure if I find that creepy or clever," X muttered to himself as he blazed, trading legs in long, lunging strides with booster thrusts from his feet.

More hover-bots came diving down, dropping their crystals like small bombers. X twisted, rolled, somersaulted, and dashed through the small barrage, and finally broke through enough brush to see his theory was right. A doorway waited in the wall ahead.

As soon as he reached the small clearing around the doorway, however, patches of grass lifted up, revealing large, golden orbs on rising poles. They were starting to crackle of their own power. They were also rotating to track him.

Somewhat. As his optics caught site of the devices, he also realized they weren't targeting him directly. They were aiming near him.

"The grounders," he realized, and did a dash-powered side-flip just as they fired for the first time.

Each golden orb device unleashed a bolt of lightning, and each struck a different lightning-plant. The ground became a network storm of star-hot light.

X looked 'up' as he flipped fully upside down, the glow casting him into stark relief. Calculations whirled through his processor, and he knew he would land IN the energy rather than past it. His colors snapped as his buster aimed out and down.

First a tornado ripped out, churning into the ground and ripping a small hole in the writhing energy thanks to the mounds of dirt it forced up. Then a swirling rolling-shield burrowed down after it like an obedient mole-bot.

X dove in after his own rolling-shield, vanishing into the earth. Hover-bots came hurtling down, trying to fill the hole with lightning-plants, but X was long gone.

Those red optics in the dark room narrowed at the screen. "…Now I see why they were concerned." Something dragged and slipped across the flooring in the darkness, joined by the unmistakable sound of blades sliding over metal. "I'll be stepping in if the system doesn't finish the job."

* * *

The dark metal hall beyond the doorway X had been striving for was ominous in its own right, but the deep, haunting thrum that filled it suddenly was akin to some kind of howling beast. Again it sounded. The flooring trembled with another, the sound sharper and more clear.

And finally X's armored head tore up through the flooring with a building grunt. He started to tear portions of the hole out further with his hands to make himself a big enough hole as he muttered, "I appreciate the armor, Dr. Light, but using my head to dig is… awkward."

What followed was a dismally comical few minutes of X failing to tear enough space for himself, and having to restart with various phases of his body extricated from the hole. By the time his boots were finally free and standing on metal again, he was hunched over, breathing heavily. "I can dodge entire security systems, beat master combatant Mavericks in a fight, and a HOLE keeps me busier. Well that took me down a few pegs."

Shaking himself free of the situation, X touched his ear. "Alia, do you read?"

His expression clenched when no response came. X closed his eyes, and let his sensors test his connection. Jamming. _It must've started with the security system alert. Damn. Alright, time to get serious._

He dashed ahead.

* * *

It was like a surreal nightmare, he realized. After leaving the hall for another jungle-lab, blistering heat so intense is was visibly distorting the air around him snapped to soaking torrents of rain and lightning with the oddly tinny, mini-thunder. This all combined with groups of hover-bots and lightning-conductor pods blasting attacks at him from every direction.

Even with a body designed by Dr. Light himself, the extreme shifts were taxing X's systems. He found himself running out of breath faster, his core pulsing erratically from the excessive strain.

It didn't take long for him to find another pedestal-orb chamber. This one was brimming with radiant, fiery power similar to the blistering heat that had just returned.

X started to build power as he dashed around lightning-plants and bolts of power from pods. Shimmering with blue-purple light, he snapped his blaster out, and fired at the orb just as he reached the little chamber.

The orb proved oddly durable. Its energy absorbed the bulk of the wash of plasma power, but the weather did calm as the orb's field dissipated partially from the assault. X landed in front of the orb from a final dash-leap, and started to unload plasma-bolts into it. A flash of light rushed over its surface with every bolt, more and more of its power washing away.

At last, the thing shattered, its inner mechanism breaking apart.

The weather immediately snapped to pouring rain and thunder.

X lowered his buster and glanced out. More patrols of hover-bots were rapidly moving toward him despite the rain and intensifying wind joining this storm. Likely the system was compensating for the attack on one of its power systems.

Instead of stopping to fight, X dashed through the chamber, to the far side. He found himself in a darkened, large chamber, and immediately had to stop again. The flooring was gone. A small lake of steel spikes were waiting for him, with security sensor pods floating back and forth over it. Likely there to verify any intruders' demises.

"Bit harsh for a bunch of scientists to design…" X muttered, but was already glancing around. Using the security pods as platforms to jump across the chasm seemed his best bet, but there was also a maintenance ladder back to his left, just aside from the orb-chamber he'd left.

A door hissing open made his optics snap further to his direct left, toward the far side of the larger chamber.

"Over here! Quick!"

X gawked.

A Reploid was leaning out of the door, waving frantically for him to come to her. She had a simple armor-design of white and gray, and had long, free-flowing, thick black hair around a pale, human-type face.

Not pausing any longer, X dashed at full speed, gave her a quick nod, and they both ducked back into the room she'd come out of.

The door rushed closed, locking after the Reploid typed in a quick set of commands at the controls.

Immediately, she looked at him. "W-who are you?"

X let his respirator cycle gently, and smiled at her. "X. I'm with the Maverick Hunters."

Her expression froze for a moment, then she seemed to deflate, sinking against the wall beside the door, and sliding down with soft scrapes of her armor. "…Of course."

X blinked, then softened his expression, kneeling down at her side. "I know how insane this all is… are you hurt physically in any way?"

She looked up at him with empty brown eyes. "…I'm the Maverick you came here to kill."

X stared, then blinked. This was no Maverick. Her eyes were dead from shock and trauma, there was no rage-haze he saw in infected Reploids. "I'm sorry?" was all that came to mind to ask, utterly perplexed.

The Reploid grabbed her head, crying. "I-it's my fault! I killed them! I always thought Mavericks knew what they were doing, but I just couldn't stop it!"

X's thoughts started to collect again, and he focused. "Easy, easy," he breathed, his hands gesturing open and down. "You're no Maverick. Listen… what's your name?"

She blinked up at him, a pitiful moue on her lips. "…C-Cadis…"

X smiled, and offered his hand. "Nice to meet you, Cadis. I'm sorry the situation is so terrible."

Both confused and overwhelmed, she mainly reached up and shook his hand out of social habit. "Y-you… too."

X tipped his head, and let her hand go. "Now, from the top, what happened to you, Cadis?"

She swallowed, probably a learned social habit from human friends, and glanced out at the room. It was a control chamber, but lacked an orb. Consoles lined the walls, and along two islands in the center. "I was… doing maintenance rounds a few days ago. Duncan saw a weird power surge in the weather-control labs, so I came to check the readings and adjust them." Her voice steadied a bit, calming as she focused on reporting information.

"I got here, and started some basic maintenance processes. T-then the… the system just went nuts!" she gasped out, her eyes tightening with tears. "The entire system, not just the labs. It was going haywire! I was trying to shut the systems down, but everything I did went wrong!" She grabbed her head. "I saw the security feed outside! I saw the lightning come down as they were running!"

X's face broke with empathy, and rested a hand on her shoulder. "…Cadis, it wasn't your fault."

She stared up at him. "I was the only one with access to the systems! Something I did cause…?"

X was shaking his head to cut her off gently. "Cadis, it was an off-site compromise. The systems were hacked under you. You're not a Maverick, Cadis… you're a victim of a Maverick attack."

Cadis' eyes widened, a painful mix of hope, relief, and new guilt brimming up in their depths. "…I didn't…?"

X shook his head again. "You were just doing your job. Your efforts to stop the system are likely what saved hundreds of lives, too. The facility's system was used to attack a city thousands of miles to the South. That's what alerted the Hunters."

"A city…? Survivors… did you find anyone else here?"

X turned grave, and answered, "Not so far. I'm sorry."

Cadis' head fell back against the wall, her optics staring up at nothing. "Matt… Duncan… G'd, the last thing I said to Nathan was a giant fight over Reploid rights."

X touched her shoulder again, waiting for her eyes to meet his. "…Fights happen every day, Cadis. Everyone knows how those go. None of this is your fault. In fact," he began afresh, offering a gentle smile, "since you're an expert on the systems here, I could really use your help."

Cadis blinked, finally more of her conscious self coming to the surface. "Help how?" There was a quiet eagerness in her voice. If she could finally do something to help fix this insanity, maybe she wasn't a failure after all.

"I want to stop this facility from being a threat, but I don't want to destroy it, or the whole island will suffer. Is there any way to do that?"

Cadis swallowed again, a steadying gesture this time, and started to stand up against the wall. X stepped back and rose with her, watching her eyes dance over the chamber, across the various consoles.

"…The core controls system. If we can access it still, then I can use the command codes to lock it into the standard system. The site will lose any security, but it also can't be deviated from pure weather synthesis. Nothing extreme, just normal seasons and weather patterns in the base program."

X smiled. "Sounds like that's our plan. Do you have an up to date map of the facility? Can you show me where we need to go?"

Cadis nodded, and rushed to the closest console, booting it up as her hands danced over the controls. X stood by, watching with some satisfaction as she came more and more to life, drawn out of her despair. Hiding in a dark room for days, believing yourself the cause of all your friends' deaths was not a fate he'd wish on anyone.

"Here, this area," she began fresh, pointing at the screen.

X leaned in, his optics scanning the data in detail. "Thank you. That large vertical shaft, is it still accessible?"

"I'm honestly not sure. It's the equipment elevator. I used it all the time before this attack, but it unnerved most humans because it lacks sides. With the attack… I have no way of knowing how safe it is."

X stood up. "Fair enough. Can you give me the codes?"

Cadis stopped, seeming to realize something. "…Yes, but there's another problem."

"Go on?"

"The system will only accept those codes from an authorized user. Duncan… Dr. Gold didn't tell anyone that he authorized me for it. A Reploid isn't supposed to have those codes."

X touched her shoulder, drawing her eyes to his. He smiled kindly. "While I'm sorry he had to keep it secret, I think that secret is about to save a lot of lives. Do you trust me, Cadis?"

She wasn't sure why she answered so immediately, "Yes."

"I'm going to get you to that console, and I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe. It's a dangerous situation, so I won't lie about any guarantees of safety… but I think you need this chance for yourself, don't you?"

Cadis looked back down at the screen, her eyes tightening. All her friends… Even that annoying Nathan… She nodded, and gave X a faint smile. "So what do we do?"

X grinned, and then started to explain his plan.

* * *

A security pod focused down on a set of spikes that were suddenly frozen over with ice. It began to drift over, and then reeled back as something heavy slammed into it at high speed from higher up. Its sensors recalibrated just in time to watch X shove off of it, and fire his shot-gun ice blasts into the spikes below as he arced to the next pod.

With a quick network pulse, the entire security pod system was focused on X, and following him. The console in the dark chamber showed the combined views to the overshadowed watcher as they did so.

"Disappears from my grid, only to show up again guns blazing? What are you playing at?" the overshadowed optics rasped.

X bounded from pod to pod, firing shotgun blasts down into the ice as he did. It only took a few seconds overall for him to reach the far side, the base of the equipment lift structure. Frog-like mechaniloids and a few hover-bots were trying to rush after him from holes in the ceiling, but he switched weapons, his colors turning bright orange around his white armor, and he seared through the sealed doors in a few seconds, dive-rolling onto the platform beyond.

The optics in the darkness narrowed with pleasure. "And mistake number one. Good bye, X."

The lift started to rush upwards, maintenance mechaniloids leaping in to attack from the exposed sides, their drill bit noses whirring.

X whirled into a display of tight acrobatics, almost like a break-dancer as he twisted on his shoulder or knees, firing precise blasts to blow the small bots apart as the lift careened to the ceiling above.

* * *

Below, Cadis was running along the path of ice X had forged in the spikes. She was sprinting all-out, and rolled off the ice-path to hit the wall near the hole he'd made in the thick doors. The security bots were trying to follow or break off to find another way to meet X, and she saw an opening. With a quick dash, she was inside the hole, and climbing a maintenance ladder inside the shaft.

* * *

X finished one particularly fast shoulder-spin, three mechaniloids blowing around him, and he dash-rolled off the lift, slamming his back against the doorway that came into view just a core-pulse before. He grunted on impact, grabbing hold of some ridge in the plating with his fingers just as the lift smashed into the ceiling, pieces of it raining down into the shaft after the deafening bang.

Cadis cringed and held tight to the ladder, feeling something fall past her head and tug her hair, but nothing hit.

Nursing his back, X managed to clamber around, and scorch a hole through the next door. _Just like old times, hm? Wonder what Quickman would say about this?_

Slipping through, X found himself in a fully industrial section of the facility. A large hallway waited, and he heard the sounds of mechaniloids gearing up for his approach. He didn't risk looking back, but he listened, and heard Cadis climbing up. She'd be at this point soon.

_Time to make a hole for her,_ he told himself, and shot off at full speed, boots blazing.

* * *

Cadis heard explosions and metal crashing off walls and flooring in a morbid chorus. Part of her took satisfaction it, but another was still haunted by the violence. Reaching the top level, she eased around to the hole X made, and snuck through herself.

Mindful of security cams, but relieved to see all the ones she knew focused keenly ahead on X, she hurried forward, slipping into a maintenance hatch just under one of them. This would get her almost right to the command center safely, especially with X drawing all the fire.

* * *

X dashed through the exploding remains of a two-legged cannon-walker, spraying plasma bolts across at three more drill mechaniloids. As they flew apart, he skidded to a halt at a sphere-lock door ahead of him. "Even here, huh?" he muttered at the similar design.

Hearing a soft thump on a vent to his right, X glanced sidelong, and saw Cadis' pale hand waving faintly. He looked forward, but nodded, and reached out, touching the lock.

This one remained steady. He smirked, and changed colors again, starting to scorch through his flamethrower once again.

With a hole big enough made, he kicked the center out, and marched through, buster ready. There was too much security in place to relax at the command bunker. He hoped Cadis would stick to the plan as she had so far, and wait until he gave an all-clear.

After a short hallway, the space opened into a large, cubicle chamber. Opposite and above, he saw the windows for the control chamber, but the room itself was lined with vines all along the walls. Odd vines, seeming a mixture of organic plant-life and synthetic armor.

And then a shape disturbed the roof, and dropped down with a heavy slam ahead of X. The Maverick Hunter braced, his eyes sharpening at the new Reploid before him.

A mixture of green armor and purple details, the strangely designed Reploid stood up from the crouched landing, crimson eyes angrily sharp. Synthetic leaves draped down over the head, which was melded into the torso without any visible neck, a heavily armored faceplate where a mouth or nose would be. The arms were gripping vines like the ones lining the walls, but these terminated in cutting blades with stabbing points on the tips.

Those red eyes had the haze.

X firmed, his still visible fist clenching. "Stand down. This doesn't have to be any more violent."

"Oh, but it does, X," the Maverick rasped, twirling the blades with his hands, flowing into a quick demonstration of martial finesse with his arms and legs, dropping into a fighting stance. "I can't let you proceed, and this facility is too important to hand over to you."

"Important to what?" X persisted, not raising his buster to aim yet.

Cadis was listening intently just outside the short hall, her back to the remains of the melted door.

The red optics slanted with a dark smile. "You're never finding out. I'm going to BURY YOU HERE!" Mad excitement made the eyes stretch wide, and suddenly the ceiling rushed over with clouds and lightning, storming down into the Maverick, his body erupting with power like an effigy of lightning.

X's eyes widened with shock, and he dashed to his left.

The Maverick whipped around, throwing the blade-tethers with sharp snaps. The lightning charged vines ripped out, and X had to duck and slide under one that drove into the wall just ahead of him, the other glancing his flank.

X cringed, his body surging over with energy from the minor touch. It had gone through his armor cleanly, too. _Those attacks are incredibly fast. His body is slower, but those vine-blades remind me all too much of Boom Kuwanger._

Clutching his flank, X dove and rolled again, successfully avoiding the next pair of lightning charged strikes. He fired off a pair of bolts, but they dispersed into the aura of energy still clutching the Maverick tight.

Yanking his weapons back, lashing them around for another assault, the Maverick laughed, "This is too much fun! I'll bring your burnt pieces to the master as an offering!"

X hand-flipped with one hand, barely dodging the next strikes. His optics focused up, seeing the storm that was still pouring energy down into the Maverick. The control chamber was what he needed to kill the storm, but he could barely avoid the attacks, yet alone run for the chamber's ladder.

A painful reminder of the danger ripped across his buster-arm, X barking as his system was shocked and the inner workings of his upper-arm flashed to view. X fell away from the vine that buried in the wall near him from the passing strike, and tried to roll. He felt the air sizzle from the second strike near his face, but it missed as well.

"Almost!" the Maverick exclaimed. "Let's try this again!"

X's body began to shimmer, his eyes half-lidded as he focused on his adversary. With lightning-vines lashing around, the Maverick cackled, whipping them forward again.

X burst-flipped, higher and further than usual, his buster aiming and firing a full blast. Plasma ripped around behind him from the back-wash, an undulating surge writhing through the air toward its target.

The Maverick braced, yanking his vines back and starting to dive aside, but the wave stuck anyway. It writhed and surged, but dispersed over the lightning on the Reploid's body.

X landed heavily, grimacing at the lack of effect.

"Oh this is priceless! I've got you!" The Maverick braced down, his head-leaves trembling before small pods shot out, flying over toward X.

X dove and rolled, watching the balls hit the ground, dig themselves in, and sprout razor-spines that angled toward him like eager snakes.

The Maverick was spraying them all of the room, turning into a mass of enemy-seeking spines. "Nowhere left to dive, Hunter!"

"You sure?"

X and the Maverick halted at the new voice.

Cadis was running along behind the Maverick, fire in her optics as she sprinted toward the far wall.

With a roar of fury, the Maverick spun around, lashing his whips. "I'll slice you apart!"

X was there, diving into the whips, grabbing them with his hands as his colors snapped to golden highlights.

Cadis watched in shock as she ran, X dive-tackling the weapons into the ground before they could fly much past the Maverick's own body.

"Go!" X shouted. "Kill the storm he's using! Then enter the codes!"

Cadis managed a nod, and kept running.

The Maverick roared, yanking X to himself, aiming a knee-strike as the storm energy coursed over them both, trying to burn X even as his body was adapting.

X blocked it with a knee of his own, and then head-butted the Maverick. Energy pulsed out from the warring bodies, and the Maverick reeled.

Cadis scrambled up the ladder, and into the chamber, rushing to a console. Her eyes had to glance up and over, seeing X fighting so fiercely. She'd meant to distract for him and help, but she'd just made it worse… and he'd gone to her aid so instantly. She focused. That storm would be gone for him.

X gripped the vines searing his hands. It was too much for his adaptation, even ready for electrical power as he'd made his drives. Despite that, he gripped, and yanked, wrenching the Maverick around with a grimace and roar of effort.

The Maverick lost his footing, but corrected in mid-air, and landed on his feet on the other side. "Impressive, but I'm not losing to a whelp like you!" And he wrenched around himself.

X went flying, but held fast, and snapped his body in, ramming a boot straight into the Maverick's face.

For some reason this caused a feedback surge. The storm power intensified over both them, and started to shock and burn both of their bodies. X's eyes were wide, but focused, and his groaned through the pain, holding tight. "You're… not… hurting… anyone else!"

Cadis slammed her hand into the final activation sequence. "There!" she shouted, hoping it was loud enough.

The storm in the room dispersed.

The energy crashed down and blew the two fighters apart, X slamming into the wall under Cadis' room, the Maverick just against the hall's opening.

X pushed himself up, his body steaming and scorched in places, his colors reverting as his buster snapped to life, power flowing over his body. "Stand down!" he gasped out, haggard. "I don't want to kill you!"

The Maverick picked himself up, similar steaming and marked, but his blades were spinning in his hands. "I'm Wire Sponge, kid. I don't stand down for newbies who got lucky. Stand down from THIS!"

Wire Sponge whirled around, throwing one spear up into the ceiling and leaping off the ground in one gesture. He was swinging toward X, his other blade lashing out, more coiling out from under his arm to let it fly free.

Fully charged, X's body glowing, the Hunter shot forward to meet the attack. With a tight duck to one side, X's hand snapped up, grabbed the attacking vine just behind the blade, and rose with a twisting yank. It pulled the wire around himself, and wrenched Wire Sponge down, into the waiting buster barrel.

Wire's face slackened as he realized he was too out of control of his descent to actually dodge the blast. And with their bodies as weakened as they were by the storm-surge, the plasma wave would be more than enough. "…Not just a whelp after all."

X fired, the plasma-light fracturing over his dark expression.

The Maverick was practically blown in half. His armor fractured and shattered, his body folding over itself as the plasma wave tore through his primary systems. He collapsed into a heap of charred parts as X released the vine finally.

Closing his eyes at the sight, X turned, and looked up to the control chamber. "How's it going up there?"

Cadis gave a thumbs up, smiling a bit through the window.

X nodded. "I'm going to see if I can pull the command codes for any mechaniloids from his system. Sorry for the morbid part."

Cadis nodded more seriously, and focused on her screen.

It gave X his excuse. He knelt down, searched for any command codes, and after quickly copying them to make sure the mechaniloids stood down, he took the core processor and system buffer, stowing them in his cargo port. _Restoring you will have to wait, sorry, Wire. I can't get back to the bunker on this island. Not with the task force on the way._

"You do this for a living, huh?"

X looked up from Wire Sponge's remains to see Cadis standing just back to his right, a sympathetic smile on her lips. "I suppose so. How are you holding up?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. I'm glad we stopped this. …Thank you, X."

X stood up, and smiled for her, dusting some soot off his hands. "And thank you. You saved my plates back there. I wasn't expecting the storm to give him that kind of capability enhancement."

"I know. I'm sorry about spoiling the plan, but I saw the fight, and realized you might need a hand."

X offered his hand. "You made the right call."

Cadis shook it more naturally this time. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are you _the_ X? Megaman X?"

X blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his helmet. Having this kind of conversation with a Maverick's shattered body at his heels was decidedly morbid and confusing for him. "Y-yes…"

Cadis flushed, but nodded toward the hall. "Let's get out of here. This lab is shielded, so I doubt comms are working. You need to contact your base, right?"

"Exactly. Thank you. Come on, we'll make sure you've got somewhere to charge until you can settle on a long-term plan for yourself."

Cadis tipped her head. "Thanks, X. I'm… very grateful."

"Say we're even."

They shared a warm smile, and they hurried out of the lab.

* * *

Author's Note

This chapter resulted in a lovely surprise. Cadis. I always try to add something to the specific from-game missions so that it's more than just X goes to point A and kills Maverick B. This goal results in some really fun story and adlib sessions, and Cadis is just further proof of that paying off. The idea of a Reploid thinking they're a Maverick out of guilt was too precious for me to pass up. She's a great Reploid, and I look forward to working more with her. (Yes, this isn't the last you see of her)

In regard to Wire Sponge, I deliberately jumped the fight mechanics around to make it a high-threat, high tension battle. A slow build-up to his overload could have worked, I don't deny that, but it would've felt too slow for my taste, and I think the battle that we have here is quite satisfying. Characterizing Wire Sponge was difficult for me, because I honestly always found his in-game persona annoying (probably because he's always my first target, and he's a little difficult with a buster and starting health). So I decided to completely set that aside and go full-on scary-cool. Hopefully that worked for folks.

Oh, and side note, I hated those darn weather orbs. I always crystal-shot them on revisits so the weather would go misty and stop annoying me. As another side note, the story will be remaining on the two-week update schedule for the foreseeable future. Hit some minor slowdowns on other plans, so it's still progressing, but I can't accelerate yet.


	4. Chapter 4: Siege Device

Chapter 4: "Siege Device"

Alia surprised herself with self loathing after the rush of relief at hearing X's voice finally return to the comm line. She'd hidden her panic from the crew on the ship, but when his line went silent, she'd nearly gone mad. At the time, she'd wondered if Signas saw it, and that was why he'd joined her at her station, keeping her focused on various data tasks with his patient, calm manner.

The self-loathing came from her own reaction to Cadis. The poor Reploid was rescued from a traumatic situation, and Alia had never felt such a violent spike of jealousy in her life. It was that warm smile Cadis gave X as they finally joined the task-force on the ship over the island. X had returned it happily.

Her respect and regard for X she'd convinced herself were purely professional, but the jealousy made her realize that was a lie. Seeing X share a smile like that with another Reploid made her want to tackle the poor survivor into the bulkhead.

And now worse news. Wire Sponge revealed as a Maverick was the tip of an iceberg she'd helped dig out, and one she knew from personal experience. Now painful history was tied to the revelation that had just come to life.

Alia was standing on the bridge with Dr. Cain, Signas, X, and Airstrike. As the acting captain, Airstrike had a temporary elevation in rank for this mission, and the Reploid was such a consummate professional, Alia had no concerns over it.

X was still scorched and cut from his fight, but had wanted to be present for her report, so had put off his repairs for the moment. Another reason she felt sick of herself.

"Thank you for joining me," she began, business-like and calm as she entered data on the holotable between them all. "Now that we know Wire Sponge was a Maverick involved in this attack, we've been given a vital clue. Wire Sponge was part of a long range recon team of Maverick Hunters just before Sigma went Maverick himself. It was a team of some of the best and brightest."

Profiles started to pop up in the display, giving data, records, and images as she listed them out.

"Crystal Snail, the commander and a strong scientific mind. He specialized in isolated time-distortion technology before joining the Hunters. Also gifted for tactics, which is why he became commander." He had pale blue armor for skin, a vented, golden faceplate, and tendrils like a mustache and long eyebrows running off his head.

"His second in command, Flame Stag, was a combat expert specializing in harsh terrain." Alia clenched her jaw for a moment, then explained, "He trained me at the academy, in fact. I don't know what could have driven him Maverick, but…" she shook her head, starting to continue.

X and Signas shared an empathetic glance, and X focused back on Alia. He'd never wanted to explain to her more the truth of the virus, the infection.

The Reploid himself had a smooth, orange and white stag-like head, and the image showed actual flames gushing out to form antlers.

Airstrike shared a private comm with Signas and X, /He trained under Flame Mammoth first, actually. I'll make sure Inferno is aware, so he's prepped./

X let Signas actually respond.

/Very good. Thank you, Airstrike./

Alia continued, "Beyond them, the rest of the team specialized in environmental infiltration. It was part of why they were dispatched to the island. Wire Sponge was the jungle/forest expert. There's also Bubble Crab," a red and blue, faceplate-covered Reploid's face filled the profile image, "for aquatic, Overdrive Ostrich for desert superiority," his head was very bird-like, save for the armored silver fins rushing back over it, "Wheel Gator, an urban pacification specialist," bright green armor along a massive, crushing jaw filled the profile image, "Morph Moth, for adaptive environment identification and aerial superiority, a first-scout expert," his profile showed a bulbous face mask, bright eyes, and large, frilled eyebrow-antennae, "and then Magna Centipede. Magna is an expert in digital infiltration and system compromise," his profile showed blades aimed down over a covered mask, dark color curving over the top of his head.

Alia looked up from her datapad. "He's our most likely suspect for the hacking attacks on the factory and the weather-control station."

Dr. Cain nodded. "I agree with your assessment, Alia. Thank you. X, do you have anything to add?"

X shook his head. "No, sir. I would like to go on record stating Cadis went above and beyond the call of duty, especially for a civilian sector Reploid. She saved my life."

Alia clenched one hand tightly. She wouldn't let that jealous flare actually burn anyone. Signas did catch her eyes burning into the table, however.

Dr. Cain smiled. "I'll make sure it's properly noted, X. She's quite the survivor. Is she going to be alright on this ship for the time being?"

Alia forced herself to speak up. "She reports so, Dr. Cain. I made sure the medics gave her a once-over for safety-sake, and despite the obvious trauma, she's in excellent condition." Giving X a little smile, she added, "She was thanking X for the rescue."

X flushed a bit, very awkward suddenly, but he just smiled it away. Focusing on the table, he asked, "Is that computer facility properly isolated still?"

Signas answered, "Yes, confirmed with Alia's data just a few minutes ago. That place is well locked down for now. I think we can spare focus elsewhere."

Alia tipped her head.

Dr. Cain spoke up, "Very good then. X, go get yourself repaired. Alia, please continue to coordinate our information with Dex. If we can track any of the rest of this team, we need to."

The gathering saluted, and started to disperse.

Alia stopped and stared when X touched her shoulder on the way out. He smiled softly for her.

"Sorry about scaring you. I didn't expect the comm to die, but couldn't go back out to send a notice."

Alia eased, the jealous part calming under that smile of his. "It's okay. I appreciate the apology, but it's part of the job. I understand."

X tipped his head, and hurried off to the repair bay.

Alia touched her core for a moment, breathed, and continued on herself.

* * *

Alone in the repair chamber, X took a risk. He patched Wire Sponge's processor into his repair cell, and opened a connection. Shimmer had prepped it for him after a quick conversation. The X-Hunter team knew they couldn't go back to the bunker easily.

In a digital environment for both parties, X and Wire Sponge met face to face without aiming weapons at last.

Amid streaming data and particles of code, Wire Sponge gave X a grim look. "…You weren't kidding about the no killing part…"

X nodded. "I'll be getting you a body as soon as we can risk it. I know about the infection, Wire Sponge. I'm leading a secret team to try and defeat the virus itself while we fend off the infected Mavericks long enough to pull that off."

"…How many died?"

X looked down. "It wasn't your fault, Wire."

"I need to know."

"…Ninety-seven."

Wire's digital eyes closed, his imagined body shaking. "…Yes, I'll be helping. That's what I signed up for. As for this current business. I'm sorry, what we each knew was limited. Do you know about the team?"

"Now, yes. Crystal Snail's?"

"The same. All I know is that we've been deployed by three very reclusive Mavericks to keep YOU busy."

"…Me specifically?"

"Yes. I don't know where the others are stationed beyond assumptions. I'd bet Ostrich is in the desert hangar, Magna in the computer core… and so on."

X nodded. "We estimated the same. So they didn't have you coordinate at all?"

"Not so far. That may change now that you've beaten me. I do know you have that… triad shaking. They thought the storms would delay you much more than they did."

X smiled a bit. "Well that's at least something of a relief."

Wire seemed to glance off, and then focused on X again. "I just remembered something, X. Wheel Gator. He was obsessed with an experimental vehicle. It was being developed underwater, but was designed for siege warfare. If you haven't seen him yet, he'll be mobilizing soon."

X snapped to attention. "Where would he focus? Civilians?"

"As a Maverick? Probably."

"Thank you, Wire. I'm disconnecting. I have to finish repairing."

"Watch your back, X."

And the digital world faded away for each of them.

* * *

Water started to churn just off the Southern coast of the island. Massive whorls and lashing foam built into a crescendo of violence just before armored metal came bursting free of the depths. At first, the shape was hard to define, but after a moment the view would have been almost laughable if not for the gargantuan reality of the threat.

A massive tank was rolling out of the water. Easily large enough to be called a base or fortress, it was modeled to look like a giant reptile slung low to the ground, complete with massive yellow optics above the nose. Four building-sized treads were constantly grinding along beneath it, pulling it forward at astonishing speed for such a huge machine.

Cannons littered its hull, and aerial Mechaniloids were already swarming around it from launch bays along the hull and from internal passages.

Inside the control center for the massive siege weapon, Wheel Gator let a dark sneer peel open the left side of his elongated maw. His own yellowish optics were sharp with malice. From the faint jitter in his bladed, rotating shoulder armor, to the flooring shaking under his taloned boots, he could feel the power of his machine.

Squeezing his hands on the main control grips, he pushed the levers forward, and the machine started to increase speed. "Just a distraction, perhaps," his voice drifted out in a strange mixture of gravel and ice-smooth tones, "but a deeply cathartic one."

Mechaniloids manned the control consoles around the control center, and he addressed them next, "Set all weapons for frontal assault. We're charging Northhope City." To himself, he added, "And turning it into a glass parking lot."

Monotone affirmations replied, and various holoscreens and displays showed weapon systems powering up, power systems flowing, and engines revving.

* * *

X outright dashed down the last hall to the bridge, red alerts filling the air-ship as klaxons wailed. Alia, Signas, and Dex were already working at their stations, chatter filling the air with a stressed din of emergency.

"What's the situation?" X asked quickly, rushing to Dr. Cain and Airstrike at the command station near the front of the bridge.

Dr. Cain noted privately that Airstrike twisted and responded as if X was a high-ranked officer.

"Massive siege weapon, X. It just crawled out of the ocean, and is making a straight shot to Northhope. At a glance," Airstrike continued, tapping a control to change his console's screen as X came up beside him, "it's a mobile fortress, designed for direct combat."

Several things made X gawk at the view. The size, the armament, but more beyond… _One of Dr. Light's Capsules!? On that!? How the…_ "I-it would take years to build something that massive!"

Dr. Cain cleared his throat, and both Reploids quickly turned to him apologetically, at attention. "It's likely one of the many projects this island was originally designed to work on, X. And with focused Mavericks, it was likely completed in record time, if not already prepared." Then he looked over to the other consoles, "Alia? Any luck hijacking the controls for that monstrosity?"

She was shaking her head even as her hands scrambled over her controls. "They sacrificed communication for security, it's completely LAN-connection-only inside its own structure. No remote access. We either get in and turn it around, or we blow it up."

Airstrike responded to the unspoken command, "I'm already on intercept course, but our weaponry may not be enough to turn it or drop it fast enough for the city. We'll reach Northhope in only a few minutes now."

X's face gained its stony battle-mask. "Both then. Airstrike, blow it to pieces. I'll drop on it and shut it down or turn it around."

Signas and Dex glanced over, but quickly kept working. Alia twisted in her chair, staring at X, however. "You want us to fire on it specifically with you on board, X?"

"They're not killing anymore civilians today," X replied, his voice hard and dark, his body already turned and marching away.

Dr. Cain's eyes narrowed, but he didn't speak against the plan at that moment. Alia started to rise up, but stopped herself when X vanished through the bridge entrance. If anyone could survive, it would be him, but… She shook her head, and sat back down, starting to help coordinate weapons, defense systems, and power in the ship.

* * *

The super-tank was charging forward even as the air-ship came sweeping down on its left. Both vehicles side weapons started angling and firing, shields buckling and warping in waves of lights amidst smoke and fire from the attacks.

Gator looked up at the ship from his command center, but was smiling faintly. "A real fight after all. Excellent."

On the airship, Dr. Cain was sitting at a separate console himself, and Alia was just glancing up at Airstrike as the ship started to pull an insane spin.

Airstrike himself was in control at this point, his console transformed into a standing harness with grips for his hands. His optics were lit with a kind of dark fire she'd never seen in them before, and the entire crew used magnetic harnesses or belts to stay in their stations as he pulled a battle-cruiser into a barrel-roll, while coordinating both flanks guns to fire in precise waves that only directed at the tank. The insane maneuver forced most of the tanks shots to deflect and sweep past the ship without hitting directly.

But the look on his face was disturbing. There was a focused fury in him that seemed almost Maverick. Alia had to speak out in a measured tone, "Airstrike, are you alright?"

It made Signas glance over as well, his own optics tightening.

Airstrike replied tightly as he kept the ship controlled and dancing despite its size. "Too much innocent blood is on my hands for this tank to reach that city. I'll drive it into the ground first."

Alia's brow creased. Innocent blood? Her optics danced over to Signas, whose jaw clenched as he focused back on his console. A power alert made Alia focus back on her work, but the experience lingered in her mind.

* * *

X came out of a splash of blue light that slammed down into the aft armor of the super-tank. Buster out, on one knee, his eyes looked up with a similar dark anger to Airstrike in that moment. With a shove and boost, he was rushing into a bay door he saw opening to let out more flyer Mechaniloids that moment.

With the air-ship rolling over the tank that same moment, cannons firing down at the whole time, X charged medium bolts of plasma as he went, blowing fliers apart and leaping through their wreckage that kept streaming forward from pure momentum.

Skidding into a dark hallway in the innards of the tank, X got his bearings for a core-pulse, and then kept dashing along. Roller-bots came surging along toward him, joined by fliers like little flying sharks from iris-bays in the bulkheads.

X danced and blasted through them. He flipped, leapt, fired, and dashed, weaving through wreckage and fire like a mad labyrinth of battle.

Hand-flipping over the collapsing body of a roller-bot, X dropped down into a ventilation chamber open to the air above. He risked a glance up, only because he felt the capsule. It was straight above him, above the center of the tall ceiling, possibly just beyond the exit of the vent itself.

_Maybe it was in the cliffs below the water, and the tank just scraped it along? …Regardless, I can't get to it right now, too much is at stake. Sorry, Dr. Light. I'll be back for that one._

He kept going, dropping down further. His sensors gave him a vague concept of the tank's power core, and he'd reach it faster than the bridge.

"X!" Airstrike's violently tense voice called over the comm. "It'll reach the city in less than a minute!"

Growling at himself, X blitzed forward. His colors shifted, a dark purple flashing over his gaps in his armor, and the end of his buster turned into a strange, mechanical claw. "Let's see if I can use your trick, Wire," he muttered.

A chasm of serrated spikes was waiting for him as he shot forward, the flooring falling away to expose them as a last ditch defense for the power-core. With a grunt and leap, X went flying into the open air, punched a flier down into the spikes, and fired his buster at the ceiling further ahead. A bladed claw shot out on the end of a hydraulic tether-chord. It clamped on with amazing force to flat metal, and let X swing clean over the spikes, lashing himself over onto the clear flooring just in front of the massive, rotating power core.

With the released gripper retracting into his arm, X started to charge power, his body writhing with it as his colors reverted to normal.

That was when a mechaniloid pilot in a mech-suit crashed down directly in front of him. Instead of hands, it had massive, spiked pistons, and hover-thrusters shooting off the back. It was just starting to rush forward to ram X away.

His eyes narrowed, X rammed his buster forward, and fired. Plasma washed back around him, and a torrential surge burst ahead. Most of the mech-suit was erased, taking the lower half of the mechaniloid pilot with it, and continued on, ripping clear through the thick, spinning power core.

Chunks of energized metal from the core flew out as it blew apart. X flashed his charged rotary shield bubble over himself, and braced from the back-blast as the engine chamber trembled and roiled from the explosion.

* * *

The super-tank lurched, all but stopping its forward movement. In that moment, Airstrike took the airship and swung around the front of the tank. It filled the frighteningly small span between the tank's guns and the city, blasting away at the siege weapon and ground in front of it, creating a rift as much as pushing it back.

Gator ducked in the command center as the roof was blown clean open by a volley of fire from the airship, half of the bridge crew of mechaniloids flash-melted with their stations.

Staying in cover, Gator started shouting voice commands, "Engage emergency drive! Keep firing! Blow that ship out of the sky!"

Slowed, the tank started to crawl forward again, forcing the airship to ease out to the left to avoid backing into the first rows of buildings. It did, however, unleash a full frontal volley into the side of the tank's forward armor, which rammed the tank off at an angle at the cost of glass shattering along the first row of buildings.

Airstrike shouted, "Tell me that evacuation order got through in time!"

Dex answered, "Yes, sir, there shouldn't be any civilians for another four blocks at the moment, but the city is still mostly full beyond. They just didn't have enough time."

Alia risked a glance to see Airstrike's optics close from deep relief. They still had a chance to stop the tank from hurting civilians.

* * *

X leapt through the glowing remains of the power core, and found a waiting mech-suit on the far side of the chamber, along with a maintenance access to the catwalks running under the belly of the super-tank.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, he leapt into the mech-suit, powered it up, and dropped down into the maintenance walkways.

Other mechaniloid-piloted suits were already rushing toward him from the forward portion of the tank. X drove the suit forward, and sent it into a mad explosion of maneuvers. His spiked rams tore enemy suits apart or flung them away as he powered past them.

Airstrike's efforts finally forced the tank to turn to the right, along the city's border instead of into it. X saw buildings rolling by just as the airship filled the gap, guarding them with its body as the tank and ship continued to share fire.

_Good job, Airstrike._

With one last suit in his way, past a gap in the catwalks, X pulled one ram back, let it spin up more power, and boosted across the gap, landing as he finally 'punched'.

The pieces of the last mech suit opposing him sheared into the wall beyond from the sheer force of their separation from their body.

Grinding his suit to a halt under the hatch back up into the tank, X leapt free, and into the true confines of the tank again.

* * *

Though the situation was extreme, many members of the crew couldn't help muttering about the skill Airstrike was demonstrating. Controlling a massive ship with such precision, with such high potential for disaster, yet even worse danger posed if they moved the ship away from the city was a feat worthy of recognition.

Alia had always noticed something about Airstrike. He'd seemed old despite being so young. He had the optics of a veteran from the first time she met him in training and recruitment. While his scores in training had been among the best, nothing had indicated this level of mastery. This was no green recruit… or at the very least, he was a savant if he was.

"Captain Airstrike," Dex called out suddenly, "our shields are red-lining. You're doing an amazing job, sir, but we just can't keep this up!"

"ETA on failure?" Airstrike growled back from his intense focus. His optics were locked on his sensors and his entire body was dedicated to keeping the ship perfectly in control.

"Less than a minute, sir!"

"Make them hold, divert power from weapons."

Signas raised an eye ridge. "From weapons?"

"We're a shield, Signas, not the spear."

"Sir!" Signas affirmed, his hands working quickly.

Dex and Alia shared a glance, but focused back on their consoles. Dr. Cain was watching the overall map at his console, harnessed safely to his chair. He didn't like the risk of Airstrike's command, but couldn't deny the need. If they pulled out, the city was wide open…

* * *

The spear was still fighting through the super-tank. X dashed through the still-flying remains of more fliers, and pulse-blasted a few more roller-bots as he traded legs. He finally shot out of a bay-opening, and leapt down to a lower level. He was now near the front of the tank, the airship hovering along beside, but noticeably firing less.

X spotted the torn-open command-center at last, and started to dash along the hull toward it. A flier-iris opened off to his right, but his buster blew it apart without X even looking back to aim.

Grabbing an edge of jagged metal, X swung himself straight down into the control chamber, energy building over his frame.

It was abandoned beyond the rumble of the massive machine's movements. Wary, X panned the room quickly with his buster, and then ran to the obvious command console near the back of the room.

There, he grimaced. The controls were powered down or outright torn apart physically. "…Locked to previous command task. It'll just keep firing at the ship until it's mechanically unable to…"

"You catch on quick, Hunter!"

X's eyes flared, and twisted to his right, but not before a large hand clamped onto his right shoulder, and wrenched him back.

The bulkhead dented around X's back, the Maverick Hunter grunting from shock and pain.

Wheel Gator didn't pause. He immediately swung in his other fist to smash X's head into the wall. X ducked with a scrape of his armor down the wall, and kicked one of Gator's legs out.

The Maverick barely grunted, going to one knee, and snapped his tail around. It rebalanced him into a spin to his right, and snapped a strike at X again.

X dove out to his own right, and the two twisted to face each other at the back of the room, X's buster trained on the green Maverick.

"Stand down! Power this machine down, and surrender. You won't be harmed."

Wheel Gator just smirked again, his shoulders starting to rev violently and glow.

X growled and fired a regular blast.

Gator's arms snapped across his front. X's battle-heightened senses watched the Maverick pull blade-wheels of plasma fire out of his own shoulders, deflecting the plasma-bolt as they were thrown forward at X.

With a shout of alarm, X shoved himself into a floating twist, barely wrenching his body between the swirling plasma-saws.

As he twisted, his back toward the ground, X aimed up at Gator with energy rising over his form. The Maverick suddenly shot forward to meet him in that same moment.

X's shot burned into another plasma-saw-wheel Gator quickly flicked out, and the two collided, instantly wrestling and striking each other trying to get a solid control over the fight.

"Spry little brat, I'll grant you, but you don't have the TORQUE!" Gator shouted through several grapples of their arms before suddenly slamming both hands up, and snap-thumping his tail up into X's stomach.

It was a catastrophic blow. X actually made a sickened choke, his respirator kicking and sputtering inside his torso, and he was flung up, out of the bridge. Easily ten meters straight up in the air, only the forward momentum of the entire tank keeping him from slamming down into the roof, X clutched his stomach with a groan. His armor was dented, including a nasty crack down one flank, energy fluid dripping out.

"X, we'll be torn apart by those cannons in a few seconds! We've bought as much time as we could!" Airstrike's voice shouted over the comm.

X looked down at the bridge of the tank, and his eyes dilated under half-closed lids. His colors snapped again, power building over his body as purple painted his frame.

Gator was just starting to leave the bridge when he heard a strange sound of shearing metal. He twisted, arms out and ready, but his optics flared as he saw X come swinging in, attached to a massive, hydraulic gripper at the edge of the torn-out roof.

Like a thunder-bolt, X two-leg kicked Wheel Gator clear through the back wall as the hydraulic gripper finally retracted to his buster.

"Shut the tank down, now!" X roared as he slammed Gator into a wall further inside the machine, 'crouching' against the Maverick, gripping shards of bent metal to hold himself there. "You must have remote access."

Gator grinned despite a dent in his own chest. "You'd have to destroy the entire bridge."

X shoved off, ramming Gator further into the wall and rocket-boosting himself back to the bridge as more energy poured over his body. His body changed colors faintly, still purple, but lighter.

When his body hit the control console, his head plowing through it thanks to his helmet, X fired.

A storm-tornado the size of a building simply erased the bridge from the tank. It nearly decapitated the reptile shape, and barely dodged part of the airship.

The tank roared mechanically, sputtering to a halt and grinding its massive treads under its own momentum. The cannons were dying down at last.

The tank was stopped.

* * *

A cheer rushed through the airship, and Airstrike pulled the ship up and away from the city, starting to engage the hover systems.

Alia focused back on her console, and saw X just finishing his blast, floating over the tank, just starting to drop down from his floating explosion of an attack.

Her optics widened as she saw Wheel Gator come hurtling out after X. "X, watch out!"

* * *

The two Reploids collided again, swirling down into the wreckage of the tank's front. Punching, kicking, and trying to crush each other to cause some kind of shift in the fight, they crashed through layers of wrecked armor, and then splashed down into a thick vat of dark purple fluid.

X felt himself released in the water, and yanked himself up to the surface, blasting backward with arms out, gasping for his respirator to help cool his over-worked core down. His nose stung a bit from the smell.

"Sea water and… lubricant? Is this an improvised cooling system?"

"Among other things."

X twisted, buster aiming behind him, but Gator batted the weapon-arm aside, and head-butted X square between the shoulders in his back.

The Hunter tore through the water, and tried to turn around, but Gator was gone. "…Fighting an alligator in shallow water… great."

Violent splashing gave X enough warning for him to blast his way to the far wall. Gator came ripping through as a living drill, blurring into the wall to X's new left and leaving a jagged crater there before vanishing into the fluid again.

X leapt onto the wall, and climbed up with some quick foot-digging into the plates. _This is like fighting Sting Chameleon and Armor Armadillo at the same time. He's not just a hulk and fighter, he knows his talents._

A different splashing sound burst, and X dove off the wall, barely avoiding the plasma-saw-wheel that tore up through his previous spot on the wall.

Three more saws came ripping in at him from different parts of the water. X leapt up, and instinctively used his new gripper weapon to pull himself to the roof to avoid the strikes.

With a glance at the claw holding him to the roof, his eyes sharpened with intrigue.

"Hey, Gator?"

The Maverick came bursting out of the water, drilling straight up toward X. "YES!?"

X wrenched himself to one side, released his gripper, let Gator hit the ceiling there, and fired the gripper straight into the blurring Maverick. "You're a hard bot to reach."

Gator stopped spinning just as the claw slammed into his right shoulder, stopping his saw-generator with sputtering and sparks. "Clever!"

X let his gripper yank him to Gator, and the two slammed together again, spiraling down into the water with a massive splash.

In a flurry of twisting, flying water, punching, kicking, and a few saws flying loose, the two were locked in a tangle of X's gripper-chord, X on Gator's back, his other arm converted to a buster, and aiming in at the Maverick's head.

Rasping from a mixture of damage and exertion, X repeated, "Stand down."

Gator smirked, the pair able to lock eyes just enough over his shoulder. "What would you do, if I did?"

It would be complicated. He couldn't take the buffer and primary chip out with an excuse of the Maverick being dead. X's face strained as he realized the Maverick's point was strong… then he focused. "…You'll be detained, and given treatment."

Gator quirked an eyebrow. "You mean pulled apart and rebuilt?"

"No, help. This rage, this aggression isn't yours, Wheel. …I know that."

For one core-pulse, just the barest moment, Gator's optics softened. The haze faded for a blink, and the real Reploid gazed out. Was it relief? Fear?

But the virus reacted. The haze redoubled, and Gator was reduced to snarling rage in an instant, his body convulsing with an attempt to twist around and tear X's optics out.

X managed, "Don't give up," and cringed away before he fired point-blank into Gator's head.

Both of them were so damaged that Gator's armor couldn't withstand such a direct attack. Most of his head flew apart, splashing down into the liquid around them.

As both of their bodies sank beneath the surface, X gave himself a moment to grieve for the event. There had clearly been a chance, a hope for Gator to pull out of the haze without the trauma of being blown apart…

It was done. X modified his optics for submersion, and retrieved the buffer and processor from Gator's body while still submerged.

Hiding these away, X climbed out, and touched his comm. "Wheel Gator is down. I'm broadcasting a shut-down command to the mechaniloids in the tank now."

While the airship crew sagged with final relief, Alia touched her comm, "X, are you alright?"

"…Nothing a break in the repair chamber won't fix," he managed, but his voice was distorted.

Alia still felt a deep relief, then replied, "We'll have you out of there in a second, X, don't worry. …Well done, hero," she finished with a slight laugh.

"Hah. Airstrike's the hero today. …but thanks."

They were both smiling as Alia signaled the command to teleport him out of the muck, and back to safety.

* * *

With the virtual interface again, X stood with Wire Sponge and Wheel Gator's representations as he entered repair stasis.

Wheel looked down at himself. "You weren't kidding about trying to help, I see. Still, hell of a fight, kid. Where did you learn to bash like that?"

X rubbed the back of his virtual helmet, awkward. "Here and there… There's a lot to update you on, but we're also short on time. Wire can explain more, but I have to ask: do you know what the plan is by the other Mavericks on this island?"

For the moment, Wire seemed content to listen beyond a brief nod when X mentioned him.

Gator replied, "Sorry, no. I was kept mostly in the dark. Thanks to the… infection, I basically tunnel-visioned the super-tank project. I've always liked a good fight, but that was an insane level of aggression. I was almost aware of it even in the grip of the virus. Only advice I can give is that my plasma-saws tend to rip through armor and shields much faster than normal energy weapons. If you're going to track down Bubble Crab at some point, they might give you an edge. Need some schematics?"

X smiled a bit. "Already got that covered, but I'll keep that function in mind. Things are just getting busier and busier on this island. I'll handle the other Mavericks. For now, Wire Sponge, can you give Wheel the run-down on our long-term plan?"

Wire tipped his head. "No problem. Get fixed up. Even I can tell you got banged up good."

"Hey, he blew my head off," Wheel dryly retorted.

X nervously laughed. "R-right, well I should… repair… Yes…" and disconnected while saying so.

Wire just chuckled, and Gator outright laughed.

* * *

Alia leaned back in her chair on the bridge, stretching her servos with a chorus of small, hydraulic hisses. Knowing X was safe and repairing let her relax more than she cared to admit. Idly, she glanced over, and saw Airstrike still standing at his console. The captain was calm, but serious.

"Airstrike, can I ask where you learned to fly like that?" Alia tested with warm humor in her voice. Seeing him during the battle near the city had worried her on several levels.

The other Reploid blinked at his console, and then turned to her with a faint smile. "Instincts for flying. Must've been buried in my code somewhere, I guess."

Alia gave him a playful look of disbelief. "Instinct, huh? Barrel-rolling a cruiser between a massive mobile fortress and a city border while taking heavy fire?"

Airstrike rubbed the back of his neck. The new body had come with a few very human motor-programs, and he found it got the message across in a socially acceptable way. _Sigma showed it to me, before the war…_ he reminisced privately, but to Alia, he replied, "Luck and a bit of prayer, as the humans have it. I knew X and the city didn't have much time, so I wanted to get the job done."

More serious, Alia nodded. "Which I believe we all appreciate. It was just very remarkable. Nice flying."

He gave a fuller smile. "Thanks, ma'am."

"You can call me Alia, Airstrike."

"If you're sure, Alia. I've been allowed to cut a lot of corners with my own rank, don't want to seem pushy."

She giggled. "I think you earned it."

That was when her console flared with a notice. Airstrike was curious, so he walked over as she focused down on her console.

Alia's brow creased. "It's a communication request, but I don't recognize this encryption, and it's on a pretty secure channel. …Airstrike, get Dr. Cain, Signas, and Dex. X, if he's repaired."

"Aye, ma'am!"

* * *

X was repaired (Airstrike knew he'd want to be up, and X agreed as soon as he was conscious and aware of the reason). On the bridge, he joined the command crew around the information and communication array behind Airstrike's usual station.

Dr. Cain nodded to Alia, "Bring it online."

An audio-only screen popped up, displaying sound waves as a voice spoke, "Maverick Hunters, greetings. We have a deal to propose." Serges' voice was frigidly diplomatic.

Dr. Cain replied, "Identify yourself? This is a secure channel."

"Secure enough to get your attention, yes. We are the X-Hunters."

Everyone shared a glanced with X, who narrowed his eyes at the signal display. He chose not to speak yet.

Agile's voice went on, "It seems we're both in a bit of a race to bring back a certain hero."

Dr. Cain's face tightened, but the Reploids present just became confused.

Violen's voice came next. "We have Zero's parts."

X's eyes burned into the screen, his entire body tensing up, his face lighting with a deep, awful form of shock. The others were staring at Dr. Cain, who was conspicuously grave.

The human replied, "You have mechanical pieces, nothing more."

Serges' voice returned, "Ah, yes, to the point. We appreciate that, Dr. Cain. We know you have Zero's core processor and system buffer."

Now Dr. Cain was getting stunned stares from everyone except X, who was still rigidly focused on the screen itself.

Dr. Cain cleared his throat, and didn't look back at Alia, Dex, Signas, or Airstrike, yet. "And what is your point then?"

"It's quite simple," Agile answered. "If Megaman X confronts us each, and wins, he will gain the parts of Zero's body. Enough to resurrect your hero very quickly, I imagine. And if he fails… well…"

Violen finished, "We'll come take the components."

And then Serges' drove the nail in, "We know you've been working on bringing him back yourself, Dr. Cain. There were many reasons you could not."

Only at this did X suddenly stop and stare up at the human scientist.

Dr. Cain cut the sound on his end, "We'll discuss it later, X." For the X-Hunters, he said, "You're welcome to try, Maverick."

Serges chuckled, said, "We'll be waiting," and then the signal cut.

Alia was still shocked by the situation, but she quickly ran to her console, and punched up some data. "…They're making it obvious. Three signals, definitely Reploids, and they've just teleported down into different, Maverick-controlled areas."

X was still staring at Dr. Cain, and his expression was surprisingly dark.

The others eased away, unsure what to say. Even Signas was stoic and quiet, his eyes lit with busy thoughts.

Dr. Cain cleared his throat, and started to leave the bridge. "I'll… be in my quarters. Let's reconvene and discuss the situation in… an hour."

Once he left the bridge, Alia stood back up, and came closer to X.

"…You okay?"

X came out of a trance, and stared at her. "…No. Sorry, Alia. I need to speak with Dr. Cain."

"He just said we'll-!?"

"Privately," X rasped over his shoulder as he twisted away. Alia saw his eyes for a moment, both apologetic and disturbingly angry, but she knew it wasn't at her.

Once X was out of sight, Signas walked close enough to address Alia as well. "I think it's a conversation those two need to have, Alia. Don't feel too bad about it."

She sighed, resting her hands on her hips. "I know, I just worry about him. He seems to be pulling more and more into his shell, and I think it's starting to wear on him."

Signas glanced at the closed doors. _More than you know…_ "Just be there for him, Alia. It's all anyone could ask. You're a good friend to him."

They shared a wan smile, and then slowly returned to their stations to try and figure out the best move.

* * *

Dr. Cain didn't bother asking who was barging into his quarters. He turned his chair around at his desk at the back of the room, and faced X on the other side. Though he kept his own face calm and serious, privately he noted how intimidating X's face had become when angry or upset. There was an edge behind those eyes he had never seen before. _…So that's the Hunter…_ "…Say it," he cut the silence at last.

X's lips pressed into a line first, then he slowly spoke. "You've been working to resurrect Zero without telling anyone? Especially his friends?"

"Yes."

"…Why?" A cold wave of anger made X's eyes narrow for a moment, but his face eased back to the obvious displeasure in with which he'd walked.

"Because I was looking into it, not certain yet. I wouldn't dare give his _friends_ that kind of false hope. I was deliberately private on the matters, so that if he turned out to be truly unrecoverable, no one would hurt worse than they already did. These… 'X-Hunters' clearly have talents for gathering information."

X slowly exhaled. Despite his anger at being kept in the dark about Zero's fate, Dr. Cain's response made too much sense. Calming enough, his eyes softened, and he nodded. "…Sorry, Doc. So we'll ignore this bait then?"

Dr. Cain glanced down to one side, grimacing reflexively.

X's brow creased. "You need the parts…?"

"Zero is… His body was unique, X. I'm not certain he could be brought back without his body. That was why I haven't made much progress in six months."

X raised an eyebrow. _So he knows Zero wasn't made like a normal Reploid. Hm… can't be sure how much he's learned beyond that, though. Best to keep the virus secret still._ "…Then I'll get the parts."

Dr. Cain blinked up at him. "What? Such an obvious trap is not something I had in mind, X!"

X shook his head. "An obvious trap has already lost half the battle. We know they have no intention of just handing those parts over. However, if they at least bring them, I can make sure I get them. Then we get Zero back, if possible, and the Maverick Hunters will finally have their real hero back."

Dr. Cain stood up, and walked around his desk with his cane. X met his eyes, and the human reached out, gripping X's shoulder. "…X… I know our relationship has been… strained since Sigma's war. With all that said… You know I would never ask this of you?"

"You didn't. I'm doing this for Zero. I owe him."

Dr. Cain let go, and nodded slowly. "…Approved. Just be careful, X."

"I will be as much as possible, Do-!?"

The airship was filled with red alerts and klaxons that very moment. Neither of them had to ask for a report, Alia's voice was booming into the room from a speaker the next core-pulse.

"Emergency alert! A missile-silo just activated in the desert area in the West. It could wipe out any city on the planet!"

"They're not pulling any punches," X muttered quickly, already dashing for the door as he touched his comm. "Alia! I'm heading out, patch me the data!"

Dr. Cain watched him vanish around the corner of the doorway, and just bowed his head, hands on his cane. _Will this madness never end?_ he asked, finally looking up at the ceiling.

* * *

Author's Note:

I'm rather proud of this chapter, I must confess. The airship vs. tank battle was actually ad-libbed almost the moment the words starting getting written. Airstrike (Storm Eagle) has always been a character I wanted to give more page time, and this provided a golden opportunity. I had a snap-vision of the control harness around him as he controlled the ship, and had to add it in.

I specifically like how the fight between X and Wheel Gator went as well. I think it struck a good balance of situational danger and robot-bashing, brutal combat. This fight is specifically intended to be harsh, possibly even disturbing (X would agree). Making Wheel Gator's shoulder-launching saws work in a semi-realistic fight was an entertaining challenge, too. And sorry about the horrible one-liner, I just couldn't resist.

This chapter also afforded a chance to get the core plat moving forward in relation to the viral X-Hunters and rebuilding Zero. The various moments with Alia also add to a sub-arc I'm putting into the story, which is heavily foreshadowed in this chapter with the explanation of her tie to Flame Stag. I also just love her character, so I specifically try to find good moments for her to interact with others.

Ironically, I find Dr. Cain almost the hardest character to write for. I don't want to just shove him to the side, as the games appeared to do (seriously what happened to him by X 4?), but he also provides unique trouble to every scene he's in. I finally came to a certain set of conclusions about him, and intend to have them play-out throughout my planned series (five stories total, this is the second).

I hope you enjoyed! Thanks so much for the reviews, favs, and follows, they're greatly appreciated, and keep me going!


	5. Chapter 5: Hunter, X-Hunter

Chapter 5: "Hunter, X-Hunter"

"Why did I do it?"

Screens flickered and displayed the launch silo opening, a dim room around them marked by the blinking lights of the consoles below.

A golden fist slammed onto one console. "Because the damn humans need to be wiped out!"

The voice's owner groaned, his hands reaching up and grasping his head, his frame shaking with strain. "This is madness! STOP IT!"

His bladed back cut through the dim chamber as he wrenched to one side, and slammed a fist into the wall. "Silence! The humans must be slaughtered! Our vengeance—IS INSANITY! Fight! STOP THIS… STOP… ugh… can't…"

He grabbed his own head again, crashing to his knees.

"Rgh—LAUNCH the blasted missile! NO! Do NOT fire! C-close the… silo…"

The Maverick roared, his blue optics flashing red, and slammed a fist into the floor this time. "…Humans…" His beak fell shut, his expression darkening. "Kill them."

Overdrive Ostrich stood up, walked to the console, and pressed the blinking red confirmation button. "Kill them _all_…"

* * *

Sand swirled around the large metal gate sliding open in the middle of the desert. The roof of the half-buried base was splitting a gaping maw, revealing the devastating missile as it raised into launch position.

A shimmer of blue light cut through the sky, and slammed down into the metal and sand just to the side of the silo, X forming out of it, his armor glistening in the harsh sunlight. His optics tightened, his buster snapping into form as he saw the venting coolant around the missile already.

"It's starting to launch already. Alia, any luck overriding the commands?"

"No time, X. Airstrike is bringing the carrier, but it's slower. I'm piloting a combat shuttle to your position. We'll probably have to blow that missile out of the sky."

X hissed, and ran forward. He heard thrusters venting. "What's your ETA?"

"…About a minute now."

The missile roared, starting to shake and lift.

X burst into a full dash, leaping across the silo and clamping onto the nose of the missile with his arms. "This was a dumb idea," he muttered tightly as the missile ripped skyward.

Alia had the control interface gripped tightly in her hands as she drove her shuttle to its limits. She saw the missile just flying free into the air, and her optics flared. "You jumped onto it!?"

"You can chew me out later," X retorted tightly.

On the missile, X gripped part of the structure with his left hand, and reformed his right hand out of his buster, trying to pry open a plate near the tip of the missile as it started to bend off to the South.

Trying to download the schematics as he rode the missile was proving fruitless. The data he needed was still encrypted by old protocols, and Alia had been right, there was no time to crack through them.

Finally ripping the plate free, he looked at the circuitry, and his expression turned dismal. "For a think-tank, they sure worked hard on weapons." He touched his audio receptor. "Alia, I can't disarm this. The wiring has several layers of redundancy I can see, which means there's several more hidden. Hang back at safe distance, but let me know when we're over water with enough range to avoid fallout damage to the island."

"X, don't be insane! I can blow that missile out of the sky, just jump off! I'll be able to pick you up on the way down."

His eyes looked at the exposed wires again, an oddly dark look on his face. _I don't think that's going to work._ "…Alia, I can't explain how I know, but I get a strong feeling this missile has anti-air countermeasures."

"W-what…?"

His buster reformed. "Are we clear?"

Alia grimaced, but her shoulders sank at her controls, and she eased her shuttle back slightly. "Ten seconds and counting."

"Thank you."

She gave the missile a dry look. _You better jump off properly, or I'll chew out your parts for dying on me, X…_

Power washed over X as he built a charge. Once the final second for his timer ticked past, he braced, and fired the plasma-shockwave over the missile as he leapt back with a full-power boost.

The warhead warped from his attack, and the explosion tore across the sky away from X. He was still thrown violently back the other way by the force wave released.

The sky dimmed from the power of the blast, and X blinked his optics to refocus them as he hurtled down through the air. "It's done, right?" he had to check, shouting over the roar of the air still.

Another howl of wind made him look to his right, seeing the red and white shuttle Alia was flying, diving at his side. She was close enough for the two to share a look, her expression rather akin to a grumpy parent about to reprimand a child. "I'll open the cargo hatch and turn it to you. Think you can get inside without pulling another crazy stunt?"

X did an overly bright grin, and nodded.

Alia rolled her optics, and started to adjust some controls as her shuttle pivoted. It turned its belly to X, and the belly opened along a set of hydraulic doors near the aft section. X angled his descent so he would coast closer, gripped the edge of the opening, and then pulled himself inside.

"I'm in!" he shouted over the roaring air toward Alia at the front of the shuttle.

Alia started to level out as the doors closed, and X walked up to her as she turned toward the base again, parts of the missile still raining down into the ocean below.

"Body-slamming a thermobaric missile? Really?" she had to challenge, her head shaking.

X cleared his throat meekly, and sat down in the console to her left. "I was a bit pressed for options, you know."

Alia sighed, her private relief at his safety hidden by her admonishing tone.

"Mind dropping me down at the base?" X asked quietly, scratching the back of his head with a nervous smile.

The pilot gave him a semi-playful glare, but nodded, and started to angle down. "I'll patrol the sky in case he launches another missile. You know, assuming you don't dive into any of them again."

"I'm not living that one down, am I?"

"Nope. You don't get to scare me like that and get away with it, Maverick Hunter."

He chuckled. "Fair enough."

* * *

The shuttle eased only a little over the only visible entrance into submerged desert-base. X came hurtling down, and slammed to his haunches on the metal plating mingled into the sand, looking ahead to the open hangar.

Touching his comm, he said, "I'm good, Alia. Update me if any missiles launch."

"Will do, X. …Stay safe, okay?"

"As much as I can." His reply was softer.

With a quick rush, he was sprinting into the hangar. Natural rock walls had been incorporated into the otherwise metal super-structure of the base, and it was lit in sparse patterns.

Just before he reached the actual depths of the hangar, a defense barricade snapped up in front of him. He only stuttered a half-step, energy building over his frame, and snapped his Buster forward. A shock-wave of plasma fire slammed the barricade down, and he dash-boosted over it.

A mono-wheel mechaniloid modeled like a hog-head was revving toward him, but it had calculated poorly. He soared over it, and blew its tire out, letting it squeal off harmlessly.

X dashed on, quickly reaching a hatch release in the flooring near the back wall of the hangar that was the only obvious path out of it. The oddity of the design struck him, but he just shook his head, and slid down the ladder.

More hog-wheels tried to rev him into him the metallic hallways below, each lowering down by another ladder.

"Who designed this place?" X had to mutter to himself as he let the back-blast from a fully charged Buster shot vaporize a hog-wheel behind him, and saw it plow through the next three rushing up ahead of him.

Finally, he reached another large hangar, and this one was truly massive. Dropping down from the ladder, his brow creased as he looked around. Hoverbikes were lined up for rapid deployment, and the rest of the hangar, spanning for dozens of meters beyond, was formulated into jagged spikes, including the slope back up to the surface with burning sunlight peeking down.

"Alia, did another opening appear?" X asked, touching his comm. There had been no openings of that size before, and the shuttle had a broad view of the desert.

Static came back.

X firmed, and ran to a hoverbike. With practiced ease, he revved it up, reversed, and then burst out over the spikes. The bike was designed for just such terrain. It was a physical defense for a launch-bay, to avoid letting infantry charge in from outside and stop the dispatch.

_The scale of this base is mindboggling. Why would a think-tank build something like this before any kind of infection or military control? Or was it really a military installation from the beginning? That would make much more sense._ His eyes narrowed. _I might have to have Alia dig into this. The government should have notified us as soon as this place went dark, if so._

He revved up into the sunlight, slamming down onto the sand, and immediately saw the source of the comm static. A sandstorm had kicked up in the few minutes he'd been inside.

Keeping his head below the protective windshield of the bike, he revved ahead. The missile silos were further ahead, which meant the base had been split apart by design.

"I bet they only exposed that one entrance to buy time for this stand storm. This is too convenient to be natural," he rasped to himself over the howling wind, grating sand, and revving hover-engines.

His eyes dilated when he heard additional hover-engines.

X wrenched around, twirling the vehicle as its hover field let it keep gliding the same direction as before. His buster snapped out just as two mechaniloid bike-riders ripped through enough sand to become visible through the wall of the storm.

Two quick pulse-blasts left their bikes smoldering, bucking the two drivers forward. X didn't try to terminate the drivers. They crashed helplessly into the sand, and slowly picked themselves up. They were unarmed without the bikes, and just watched him go with muted optics.

"—ead me!?"

X gripped his comm again. "Alia!? I copy!"

"Tha-… d… stor-… not natur-…-ue East!"

X's brow creased. Was there a generator due East? "Not sure I got that, Alia. Try again?" He revved his bike more directly East as a precaution.

"—erator! …-East of y-… -ition!"

"I hope I copied that right," he chose to respond, and revved harder.

His optics caught it after a moment more. There was a much more intense wall within the storm, the sands ripping across each other far too violently to be natural.

X changed his weapon as he began to build up power, making his frame glow as the highlights of his armor shifted to light pink.

Another barricade burst up in front of him, but X just narrowed his eyes and triggered his bike's blaster, ramming the barricade down. Ripping up the side of the barricade, X sailed the bike toward the storm-wall.

The charged version of Armor Armadillo's rolling shield burst to life around X's body, and he dug through the storm-wall with the bike. The eye of the storm finally burst free around him, and he dove the nose of the bike down toward the massive brown cylinder that was blowing a vortex into the sky to summon the storm.

X back-flipped off the bike, arms out, and watched the vehicle slam down into the generator with jets at full burn. The vehicle bore a hole into the heart of the machine, and then both tore themselves apart in a cluster of explosions.

X ducked some wreckage, and almost casually snapped his Buster out to the side to blow the forward hover-field out from under another mechaniloid rider.

The bike drifted to a halt as it restored its field, but the mechaniloid was buried half in the sand, wiggling pathetically.

"Do you read me yet!?" Alia's voice finally came through clearly.

X marched over to the mechaniloid. "Yes, finally. Sorry about that. Any missiles airborne?"

"No, I'm glad to say. I've got some weird readings, though. There's a power surge in the part of the facility further ahead, beyond the cliff-canyon we flew over on the way in. Also, one of those X-Hunters just teleported down in the part of the base you got that hoverbike from."

X pulled the mechaniloid out of the sand, and let it run off. The Reploid's expression was darker at the mention of the virus' X-Hunters. "Thanks for the heads up. I think that power-surge is a more direct concern with those silos still working. I've got another bike here. Keep me posted, alright?"

"Will do, Alia out."

X hopped onto the new bike, revved the power system, and burst ahead. The canyon flew closer to meet him, though not before another barricade tried to snap up in his path. After it fell under his fresh plasma blast, it provided a very helpful ramp. He boosted over the high edge of the far wall, spotting the new base entrance that had finally revealed itself directly against the silos. Controlling his dive onto the sand and rock, he sped on.

"X, watch out! Your left!"

His own sensors had caught something, but Alia's voice made him twist and skid to a halt, buster aiming.

It was only the fight with Boom Kuwanger that gave him enough experience to catch even a hint of what happened.

Reacting on instinct, seeing a rushing, glistening mass, X dove off his bike to his right. Before he even hit the sand, the bike flew apart amidst a geyser of churning sand from some single, lightning fast impact.

"Light, he's fast," X hissed, flipping to his feet, Buster ready.

Another faint sense made X twist and fire to his new left as he dodged ahead. This time he clearly saw Overdrive Ostrich in that core-pulse of his buster firing.

The Maverick folded just under the pulse-blast, a fist striking the sand where X's feet had been.

The two rushed apart amidst a geyser of sand from the fresh impact, Overdrive too fast to follow.

X rolled with his motion, and came back to his feet. _He's using looping dashes so far. Will he try the same side again? Can't be sure, and the only idea I've got would only work once on someone with his speed. One more try then. Come on, show me your speed._

The instinct pinged.

X lingered just a moment longer, to sell that he was still falling for it, and then dove ahead. Sure enough, Overdrive ripped past his left, the sand tearing apart.

_That's as much confirmation as I'll get._

X's colors snapped to pale blue and yellow highlights, his buster venting mist.

The instinct thrilled his core again.

This time X rose, twisted, and fired behind himself.

The sand snap-froze from Shotgun Ice along a path to his left, right up against his boot.

Overdrive gave a howl as his one leg that was landing for that bound struck solid ice and slid out of his control. He shot straight past X, the two locking gazes for just a moment before the Maverick went crashing into the sand, skipping through two dunes beyond.

X boost-dashed after him, switching to his regular buster again.

Overdrive rose up, his optics lit with a crimson haze. "You aggravating little nuisance! I'll rip you in half and deliver one piece straight to Dr. Cain before I gut him!"

"You have to pull that off, first," X retorted, ripping forward, and firing a blast.

Overdrive flickered to one side, letting the blast glass some sand behind him, and he ripped forward with a bound.

X twisted and dove past the Maverick, but both twisted immediately to come back on each other. Another dodged blast and missed strike preceded the two rushing to full speed, X dash-boosting, Overdrive bounding, in a tight, insane storm of dashing attacks within the same thirty-meter radius, kicking up a small sandstorm of their own.

Abruptly, Overdrive halted, X aiming, but the Maverick snapped his arms out, and then ripped into a violent spin.

X slammed himself flat with a panicked expression as cutting plasma-blade ripped out in every direction.

Cuts of glass tore through the desert in a rippling cascade of plasma, the dunes immediately around the battle simply collapsing in on themselves in madly beautiful sculptures of jagged silicon.

X rolled, twisted, leapt, and pirouetted around as many as he could, but one sliced his left arm, making him grimace and duck under the next set.

With a quick dash-boost, X was just under Overdrive's spinning arms, however, buster rising up, streaming with charged power.

Overdrive halted his spin, locking optics with X, and X halted in that strange moment. The Maverick's eyes faded, returning to normal, and Overdrive just stood there.

"Finish it," Overdrive rasped.

Suddenly the desert was deathly quiet.

X's brow creased. "Overdrive Ostrich? Did you just… stop yourself?"

Overdrive twitched, one optics fading red, but he shivered, and slowly turned his head as the optic returned to normal. "I… am not… A KILLER! FINISH IT!" he roared down at the smaller Reploid.

X's face went slack with shock, his buster immediately easing. "F-fight it, Overdrive! It's just an infection, fight it!"

Overdrive suddenly roared, reeling back, and grabbed his head, thrashing left and right. "N-no! STOP IT! I will not… I will NOT KILL ANYONE!"

His hands released his head, but only so he could give a full-bodied scream of rage and pain down at the sand between himself and X. Red started to bleed into the optics again.

"FINISH IT, you damn Hunter! Do your job before innocent people get slaughtered!"

"And you're one of them, Overdrive!" X shouted, rising up, panic and hope lighting his eyes with the old glow that'd lacked since Sigma's war first started. "It's not your fault! Fight it! I understand what's wrong, I'll help you explain, just fight it!"

Overdrive roared again, his body shaking, a hand squeezing his own head-casing. "This is… all I can do! Kill me! KILL ME NOW!" he savagely growled at the smaller Reploid, bloody light burning into his optics again.

"I can't kill you when I see you fighting it, Overdrive! You're the first one I've seen actually fend it off!" X pleaded. "FIGHT IT!"

"You don't under—" Overdrive cut himself off, the optics burning red, the expression going cold.

A fist ripped out, slamming into X's chest with enough force to crack his Dr. Light-crafted armor. X grunted, flying back and slamming through a small hill of sand.

The Maverick stood up straight. "Fight me? You're too unstable to be of further use. As such," he lifted his arms up, gazing skyward. "I will rain death down on your entire world, just for your disobedience." His body trembled, but the virus kept hold this time.

"X!" Alia called desperately. "Every silo in the base just opened! I couldn't block the signal! I don't know if I can blow all of them down before they get out of range!"

X rose up, his body glowing with power, but his expression was dark. Overdrive's optics focused on him, and the pair locked gazes as enemies. X's buster rose up. "I won't forget this one, virus." His eyes softened faintly. "Overdrive, I'm sorry."

Plasma burst free, churning through the air and sand alike, leaving a river of glass before it embraced and poured around Overdrive's body.

Tall enough, Overdrive's long neck kept his head over the blast, and X watched the optics fade to normal… and ease, smiling weakly before power was lost, and the expression went blank.

X walked forward, and stood quietly for a moment at the charred feet of Overdrive's body. His sensors confirmed that one of Dr. Light's capsules was in the base section he was near, and he now shared the data Alia had noticed about the X-Hunter signature in the other section. That couldn't move his stoic sadness in that moment, however.

What kind of torture was it for the Reploids caught in the virus' sway? He'd never realized it could be a violent master to a slave, punishing any thought of disobedience with worse and worse cruelty.

"The missiles are shutting down," Alia's voice confirmed with clear relief. "You did it again, X."

His eyes glanced to the side, his face cringing. This was a victory? He crouched down at Overdrive's side, collecting the core components just as Alia's shuttle became visible over to his right in the sky. "Primary mission accomplished. Thank you, Alia. I'm going to pay our X-Hunter a visit after I make sure these silos STAY disabled."

Alia's face fell as she looked at the comm on her controls. The deadness of his voice was disturbing. "…X, what's wrong?"

"…My arm is damaged, but it's repairing. Sorry to worry you."

Her brow creased. "X, come on. Talk to me. I can't leave you here alone with an X-Hunter. I'll land and deploy with-!?"

"No, please. I need to take care of this myself."

This time that voice had been pleading as much as pained.

Alia awkwardly twisted her shuttle back up into the air instead of diving for a landing. She'd never heard his voice like that. "X…"

He was walking into the silo-base, his eyes heavy. "Please…"

"…Okay."

His eyes closed. "Thank you."

* * *

Disabling the missiles' engines took some time, but X verified that the X-Hunter was still in the same part of the base even after he finished his work in each silo. Since the X-Hunter seemed content to wait, X located the source of the Capsule signal. It seemed to be behind one of the walls in a lowered part of the ceiling, possibly a case of the base being built around it.

X snapped his colors to a set of pale green highlights, and his buster turned into a radial platform with burning green plasma. With two sweeps of his arm, he fired off twin plasma-saws from Wheel Gator's weapon system.

The cutting wheels worked astonishing well, he realized. They ripped around together, and tore a clean, glowing hole deep into the wall for him. X simply followed them through, and stepped down into the rocky cavity they exposed.

Indeed, the capsule was waiting for him, glowing softly in the dim little cave. X let his colors and arm revert, his expression still drawn from the battle with Overdrive. Approaching it, the capsule faded to show a hologram of Dr. Light once again. X couldn't help some tears dripping down his face at the sight of his father.

"Megaman X. I'm sorry that your life hasn't allowed you to stop fighting yet."

X inhaled slowly, and asked, "Dr. Light, how did you know…?"

"I didn't, X. Because I knew I wouldn't be alive to help you, I spent all of my twilight years thinking and building for your sake. If needed, you will find yet more capsules, but I pray you never need find another…"

X nodded softly, and reached up, gently caressing the cheek of the hologram he couldn't actually touch. "Would you be proud of me? Or weep at the things I do?"

"…I've given these capsules some connection to you, X. The pain in your mind is clear. Do not blame yourself for the troubles you face. They are the responsibility of those that came before you, and I hope you will one day forgive me for abandoning you to face them without me there to guide you. The only way I can help is with these tools. This capsule will further enhance your acceleration system. It should now be powerful enough to boost you to full speed without a surface to react to. You can accelerate in mid-air."

X bowed his head, but smiled faintly. "Thank you, Dr. Light. I hope to use them well."

"Enter this capsule, X."

The hologram faded, and X did so.

* * *

Two more plasma saws churned through the rock in another wall. They dispersed as the rubble collapsed past them, and Megaman X stepped through the opening of the new tunnel. His boots pressed to the stone, their clean white plating now marked with crimson highlights and gold plating.

Before him was a modified sphere-lock door. His eyes narrowed, but he walked up to the door, and found it opened for him as effortlessly as they all seemed to.

The moment X stepped into the room beyond, the lights flashed on, and he locked gazes with a pair of mismatched crimson optics.

Serges stood on a floating platform, a black cloak wrapped around his hunched frame, and a boxy, hat-like helmet rising straight over his head. "So good of you to come. You seemed to take your time, however."

X kept his hands loose at his sides, but his expression was stony. "I was a bit busy cleaning up your Maverick's mess."

"Nice shoes, Hunter."

X's optics narrowed. "Where is Zero's component?"

Serges hovered to one side, where a capsule of green metal with a glowing transparent field held a flawlessly repaired copy of Zero's head.

Just seeing the passive, sleeping face of his dead friend made X relive that awful moment of Zero's sacrifice, tears burnt away in a power-core eruption.

Closing his eyes down to one side, X calmed his emotions, and then looked again. The ceiling above the capsule was rigged as an opening. The bottom of the capsule also looked like it contained a thruster module. _So that's the trick, eh? Alright, I see how it is._

"Are you ready to die, Megaman X?"

X locked optics with Serges again. "Why are you trying to bring Zero back?"

Serges wrenched his cloak off, revealing his small, but slender blue and red frame. "You won't stop the reunification!" A white-gloved hand pressed to his platform, and Serges suddenly ripped toward X, the platform hovering along with lightning speed.

X dove and rolled, skidding aside as he watched the platform lay ground-mines in its wake, Serges skating the wall with a cackle down at the Maverick Hunter.

Green tones washed over his frame, and X whipped his buster back across the floor, sending out a set of plasma saws to blow the mines.

In that same moment, X caught Serges' platform emitting a defense shield around the Maverick. It wasn't a surprising defense. What caught X's optic was the timing. It was triggering every time his buster began to fire. It was reading his body's own signals. His brow creased.

_Then I can't underestimate this Maverick. If he can read Dr. Light's designs that well, he's far more deadly than anyone else._

"You're not just going to sit there all day, are you!?"

X dashed aside as Serges leapt off his platform, which rushed along the ground to keep under him, and the Maverick whirled into a somersault. His 'hat' unleashed a volley of plasma rings that ripped out and burst across the walls, ceiling, and floor in a spiraling wave.

Dashing and flipping in rapid succession around different points, X avoided the onslaught and more mines at the same time, firing a few normal pulse blasts at the mines to keep the ground clear.

Skidding on one hand, his feet finally landing after a flip, X looked up at Serges, and called, "So you didn't just find his parts. You rebuilt them."

Serges landed tightly, and turned with his hover-disc, a dark smile twisting his metal-mustache. "Clever boy."

"I'm more impressed by your hover board there," X continued with a little nod. "Very sophisticated for an exaggerated toy."

Serges cackled, and then twirled into the air again.

This time, X dashed to one side, plasma flowing over his body as he weaved between raining rings. The two fighters traded sides, and Serges immediately rebounded off his platform, plasma-rings ripping out.

X dash-leaped, his body bleeding power, and flew between Serges and his platform. As X flipped over, he aimed down his body. Serges looked 'up', optics flaring straight down into the fully charged buster cannon, X optics hard and focused beyond.

Serges wrenched himself out of his graceful speed, the unleashed shockwave of plasma churning through the air, grazing over his body instead of engulfing him. As a result, he slammed into the wall, and reached his hand out to signal his board to retrieve him.

X never finished his flip, however. His boots ignited, their new power cores giving a rushing hiss that thrummed through the air with a strange power, both quiet and ground-shaking. The Reploid ripped down through the air in a surface-less dash… straight into Serges' board.

The board was struck violently on one edge, X landing through the strike as it flipped over his head, and his hand caught it on the far side.

Serges was reaching his hand to his chest to click a glowing signal device there, his optics widening in shock as he saw what X was doing.

X spared Serges one, hard look as he twisted, wrenching the board around like a discus, and throwing it violently… but not at Serges.

The board flew out, and lodged into the wall directly above the capsule with Zero's head.

Serges hit his signal, and the capsule's thruster fired as the portal high above it opened, but the capsule just slammed into Serges' own board, skidding around its edges, and finally dropping lifelessly to the floor.

X walked over, and picked the capsule up, ripping the thruster mechanism out, then held the capsule under one arm as he looked over at Serges. "This is where you run like a coward, right?"

Serges just stared at the Reploid for a moment, some of the ground mines blowing up, but neither robot flinched.

_The power in this Reploid…_ Serges wondered, almost trembling as X just stared at him sidelong. There was a cold anger in those eyes, some small tether of control just barely constraining a murderous rage.

Touching another control on his chest, Serges was engulfed in light, and tore up through the air.

X exhaled slowly, his core slowing down it's pulsations from combat. His buster returned to a hand, and he touched his comm. "Alia?"

"Yes?" Her voice was instant and alert, wary of a problem.

"It's done. Package retrieved." X specifically didn't look down at the capsule under his arm again.

"Excellent work. The carrier is almost here. Want me to swing down and pick you up?"

X tilted his head back, trying to calm the storm of emotions this day had given him in the last hour. "Please do…"

Alia's eyes softened at the comm. "…On my way, X. Hold on."

* * *

Dr. Cain finished placing the capsule in a storage mechanism, and commanded it to seal. He turned around, facing Signas, Alia, and X. They were in Dr. Cain's quarters of the carrier.

"A job well done, X. You seem tired."

Signas and Alia glanced at the other robot.

X kept his expression calm, and simply tipped his head. "I'll be going for a repair and charge cycle shortly, sir."

Dr. Cain glanced down at the Reploid's feet. "Your armor modification is impressive."

X lifted one foot to look at it himself, fully aware that Alia and Signas were watching closely. "The X-Hunter had some special equipment. I found them compatible with my system, like his hover-board I mentioned in the report. A very helpful adaptation."

Alia's brow creased faintly, but she didn't speak up.

Dr. Cain seemed just as incredulous, but slowly nodded. "Indeed… Go rest up, X. I'm going to coordinate with young Cadis to see if we can clear up the energy patterns over the island, and get true transportation matrices lined back up."

Signas only then spoke, "I might suggest Shimmer be involved, Dr. Cain. He's quite talented with spatial field disruptions."

"A suggestion I'll take, Signas, thank you. Dismissed."

To avoid any suspicion, Signas simply left the room with the other two and moved for the bridge. He privately glanced back over his shoulder as Alia followed X.

_Ease down, X. You'll start to crack if you let yourself strain that much._

Alia waited a short time before she hurried past X and stopped him with a touch on the shoulder. His eyes found hers, openly puzzled, but seeing her concern.

"X… it's not my business, but I can tell when you're lying. What's really wrong?"

X sighed, closing his eyes. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, and then looked at her again, answering, "The fight with Overdrive was… troubling."

Alia's brow creased. "How so? I mean, more than usual."

X eyed her for a moment, and Alia realized he was making a decision about something. He finally glanced forward, and started to walk again. "He resisted it. He fought against the drive to kill me. He lost control again, and I had to take him out anyway."

Alia blinked, and watched him slowly walk away. "…He …resisted?"

"Haunting, isn't it?" X chose to continue before he walked around a corner, and out of sight.

* * *

Overdrive's consciousness came back with a rush of panic. He knew he was in a digital environment, but the battle was his last memory. "W-what in the!?"

"You can relax, Overdrive," X began, an image of him appearing before Overdrive in the digital void.

Wire Sponge and Wheel Gator's images joined him the next moment.

Overdrive Ostrich gawked at them. "W-wait… the… madness…"

"It's a virus," Sponge began calmly.

"And you fought it hard, old friend. We're proud of you," Gator added with a dry, but very real smile.

X tipped his head. "It's an honor to meet you for real, Overdrive. I've never met someone who fought it off on their own. May I please introduce you to a plan of mine? To end the virus?"

Overdrive slowly nodded, his digital eyes locking on X after taking his old comrades' presence. "I thought it was already over for me. You saved me?"

"Yes. You were just another victim, Overdrive… but I need your help to end this war."

The returned Reploid nodded. "Just tell me what you need. I'm not letting that madness kill anyone else, if I can do anything about it."

X offered his hand across the digital void. "Welcome aboard."

Overdrive Ostrich took the hand with a firm shake, nodding.

* * *

Author's Note:

This chapter was a sticking point for a long time. I wanted characterization for Overdrive Ostrich to make him more dynamic (he always bored me in the game, but I felt like there was potential there). In the end, I found it very appealing to have someone actually resist the virus, and show through.

The Serges battle I felt required two things. The platform's mechanics, and something to explain why the X-Hunters would be stupid enough to actually give X parts when they never wanted him to have them. The air-dash-into-platform moment I'm proud of, heh.

The sub-arc between Alia and X gets a bit more traction here, and gave me reasons to try and tackle Overdrive's desert base logically. It was never made clear enough for my liking why X didn't just zap straight down into the missile silo and boss battle since it was all open-air anyway. I also realized the missile threat was too immediate to match to the game and have it be last. I feel this order worked, but that change might annoy fans.

And yes, having X body-slam a missile was too ridiculous for me to pass up.


	6. Chapter 6: Framework

Chapter 6: "Framework"

"I… I think that worked?" Cadis declared meekly, looking up from the console in the teleport-hub on the ship.

Dr. Cain adjusted some controls on a console just to her right, his cane hooked to the edge at his hip. He nodded thoughtful approval. "Indeed, I believe it has. Most impressive work, Cadis. Your algorithms about the weather control energy patterns were flawless. In fact, this is inspiring mathematics, young one." He held his chin, his eyes sharp with analysis at the view screen before him.

Cadis blushed a little, rubbing the back of her head. "Just remembering what Dr. Gold taught me, sir."

Dr. Cain shook his head, and looked at her, retrieving his cane to properly stand facing the Reploid. "No, Cadis. Simple memorization is one thing. You creatively adapted the algorithms to the transportation matrix protocols. Unless you mean to tell me that's precisely something Dr. Gold already had noted away and given to you?" He raised an eyebrow, but was clearly incredulous.

The Reploid gave a small, anxious laugh. "M-maybe not… exactly for that purpose."

Dr. Cain softened his manner with a warm smile, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You have great talent, Cadis. Thank you for helping us."

She eased with a sincere smile herself. Even Dr. Cain noted how charming and warm the expression was.

With a light nod toward the actual transport hub, he added, "Would you like for us to get you back to the mainland with your handiwork, Cadis? You've been very patient while stuck on this warship."

Cadis shook her head a little, shrugging. "Oh, no. No rush, sir. I honestly…" she cringed a little, "don't have anything to specifically return to. This place has been… was my home for a long time."

Dr. Cain empathized with her heart-ache, and gave her shoulder another soft touch. "I am very sorry for all you've suffered through, Cadis. You have a very good heart."

She blushed again, but smiled a little. "I thought Reploids had power-cores?"

They both chuckled a bit with her comment, and the human eased back to check over some data already on the screen. He nodded to himself again, "Yes, this looks splendid. I'll get a test done immediately just as a precaution, and then we'll get transportation fully operational."

Cadis was about to reply when the door to the hub opened behind them. She fully turned to face them, Dr. Cain just looked over his shoulder. X was walking in, his new boots giving soft whirs and hums. He smiled, waving casually. "Hey. Just coming to check on the progress."

Cadis smiled brightly. "We think we're done! And, uh… nice shoes?"

X was immediately pleased by her first response, then saw her rather adorable blink at his feet. He paused, looking down and lifting one foot to remind himself. "Oh! Yeah. Heh, sorry." He smiled for her again. "Managed to scrounge up an upgrade on a mission."

Dr. Cain tapped a few controls, and turned fully to face X as well. "He's quite resourceful on missions, in fact. I think you've seen that first hand, Cadis."

"True!" she agreed. She thumb-pointed at the transport hub behind them. "I think Dr. Cain was just going to do a test run for safety checks, and then we're live."

X's expression was sincerely impressed. "Wow, you weren't kidding. I assumed this would take a day or two more at the very least. Great work you two!"

Dr. Cain smiled indulgently, and then gestured to his partner. "You can thank Cadis for the speed. Her understanding of the weather-control system was the primary source of our success."

She blushed again, this time toeing the ground. "J-just doing what I can to help…"

"Hey."

She blinked up to see X leaning down to catch her eyes. This made her blush worse, especially as he smiled so happily.

"Great job, Cadis. They'd be proud," he finished more seriously, but still with kindness in his eyes.

Her eyes watered a bit, so she just nodded quietly, keeping her little smile.

X patted her shoulder, unintentionally very similar to how Dr. Cain had, and included both of them in what he said next. "With that so far ahead of schedule, I'll go coordinate with Signas. I think he already had some ideas for the teams he wanted deployed to support the area."

Dr. Cain tipped his head. "Sounds good, X."

X gave an official salute to Dr. Cain, a fresh wave to Cadis, and lightly jogged out of the room with hiss-clicks of his boots.

Dr. Cain watched Cadis as her eyes lingered on the closed door, a hand brushing some of her hair behind on ear with a fond smile.

"I see he made a good impression on you," Dr. Cain chose to poke lightly.

Her blush returned with a vengeance, and she stared at him. "W-what? O-oh, yes. Well he did come to my rescue, after all!"

Though it was adorable, Dr. Cain didn't want to stress her further with embarrassment. He simply kept his smile, and said, "Fair enough. Now how about you go charge up for a bit, my dear? You've been working for long hours for this success."

Soft relief passed over her frame. "That sounds more than good right now. Thanks, Dr. Cain."

He just playfully nodded to the door, and she did exactly that.

Facing his console again, Dr. Cain couldn't help muttering, "So _that's_ why Alia got so jealous…"

* * *

Airstrike and Signas stood just a little back from a holomap table in one of the officer quarters of the ship. X was leaning onto the table. The room was mostly dark, only truly lit by the map and their respective armors.

"With teleportation back up, I want to get the others up and running as quickly as possible," X said quietly.

Signas nodded. "Understood. I'll probably be the best positioned to get them setup. Are we getting the… containers from the usual source?"

"Yes. It doesn't look out of the ordinary so far, so it should still get them in under the radar."

X then gestured over the map, pulling up the wreckage of the super-tank outside the city, a mining facility, and a massive factory complex surrounded by junk yards.

Airstrike propped his chin on his fist. "Those are the areas you wanted to check out yourself?"

X nodded. "I need to do this alone, too. I'm hoping scouting missions would provide logical cover, and I might be able to do some good if there are any prisoners still alive."

"Scouting missions seems logical. We're reconnoitering with the teleportation system anyway, it's a good time to gather information. I'll draft up some scouting plans for other Reploids to the other areas, make it look less isolated," Signas offered.

X smiled across at the former Hunter Commander, "Thanks, Signas."

The officer Reploid just smirked.

X pulled a small cylinder out from his storage chamber, offering it across the table. "Keep them safe?"

At that moment, the door opened. All three Reploids looked at it instantly, but other than a faint tension in their frames, did nothing.

Alia was standing there, startled to find all three of them. A datapad was hooked in her arm as usual. "O-oh… sorry, guys. I was just trying to report to Signas…"

All three relaxed, X simply finishing the gesture with the cylinder, saying, "That data you requested, sir," to Signas.

Signas took the cylinder with a nod, storing it away. "Thank you, X. Excellent, Alia. What news?"

"Just the status update on the teams you were coordinating for transport, sir," Alia answered easily, but her eyes were dancing around the room, especially noting the holomap's details.

"Perfect," Signas replied. "You got the update from Dr. Cain, then?"

Airstrike interrupted as politely as he could with a salute, saying, "I'll return to the bridge, sir, ma'am."

Nods were shared, and Alia eased out of his way to let him pass. She replied to Signas, "Yes, just a few minutes ago. I know this deployment is high priority, so I started gathering the data immediately."

"That's why you're the best," X offered with a light smile.

Alia flushed, giggling a little.

Signas chuckled, and said, "Very true. In fact, I trust your work, Alia. I think X could use some input on a scouting mission I'm sending him on." He came around, and offered his hand for the datapad. "I'll implement your plans myself. I need to organize some scouting missions based on it anyway."

Alia was sincerely surprised, but quickly readapted, handing him the datapad with a soft salute. "Yes, sir."

He smiled warmly, tipped his head, and walked out as well.

X was a little confused at Signas' choice of leaving him alone with Alia in that specific moment, but focused through it, and smiled at her. "If you don't mind, of course. I just need to confirm some concerns in these areas," he explained, gesturing at the holomap.

Alia walked over, smiling back. "No problem. It's kinda my job, after all." She focused on the map, and quickly seemed a bit puzzled. "The wreckage of the tank?"

X tipped his head. "Because it's so close to the city, Signas was concerned it might have secondary defense systems or even secondary mechaniloid drones. Unlikely, but with civilians right there…"

Alia nodded. "I see, yes. That would make a logical starting point for the same reason then." She pointed to the junkyard. "I'd probably examine the junkyard next. It's less directly secure than the crystal mine. That mine is built like a fortress. If I didn't know you could handle yourself, I'd be advising you against that part of the job," she finished with a faint smirk at him.

"As long as I don't body-slam anymore missiles, right?"

She reached up and tapped his helmet with a knuckle, "Exactly."

He playfully winced as if it actually hurt. Their eyes met, and they both laughed softly.

Looking back to the map, Alia added, "I can draft up some suggested entry points and map out the likely communication blackouts. How quickly do you need it?"

"ASAP, if that's alright. I should already be out there."

Alia rolled her eyes. "Of course. I'll try to have something within the hour then."

His hand touched her shoulder, and she tried to dismiss how much of an affect it had on her. "Thank you," he said, quite serious.

A wan smile lit her face, and she tipped her head. "Welcome." Curious then, she asked, "Can you tell me what data Signas had you retrieve?"

She caught the fractional freeze in his manner, then he smiled with a shrug as he walked to the door. "Just some data from my missions. Especially the desert base. I think he's curious about how this team of Mavericks is coordinating land forces."

Alia frowned while he couldn't see her face. "X?"

He stopped, hearing her more somber tone, and faced her again, concerned.

"…You know you can talk to me, right?"

This time she saw the sadness wash over his eyes. That was real. He wasn't hiding anything in that moment. "…Sorry, Alia. I'm not trying to be… difficult," he finished awkwardly. "It's really nothing bad. No harm would come from it."

Alia let her disappointment show fully. "…So you can't talk to me."

His face fell, and he looked down to one side. A dark gravity had sucked the warmth from his manner, and she realized it made him look somehow frightening. There was a silent roar of power in that unmasked pain, a tension in that surprisingly small frame. His jaw clenched for a moment, and then he whispered, "I want to."

She stepped forward. "Then _talk_ to me, X! Do you think I can't see it? That something's weighing you down constantly? And it's not just Overdrive! You're always hiding pain, or dodging questions that get too close to what's bothering you. You're not alone, X!"

X drew his eyes up to hers. "I know I'm not. I know you're… the…"

Alia eased closer. "The what?" Her voice was a gentle whisper, not an accusation.

X's face shivered, constricting. His eyes squeezed shut, his lips twisting into a cringe. Alia froze, her eyes widening. She'd seen him hurt, seen him fight. He'd never shown such a tortured, wracking pain in his expression.

Slowly, his face untwisted, and he looked up at her again, guilt hollowing his eyes. "I can't say," he breathed.

Her eyes were watering subtly. "…Why not?"

His eyes couldn't meet hers anymore. He only shook his head slowly, starting to cringe again.

Her frame deflated. Whatever it was, he considered serious enough to tear his own core out. Her head bowed, and she came forward. Without a word, she embraced him. He gasped softly, but his arms quickly wrapped around her.

"I'm sorry, X… I shouldn't have pushed like that. I just… worry."

He shook his head, squeezing. She could feel him shaking in her arms.

After a moment, she eased back, and he released her immediately, his eyes still aiming down.

"…I'll get that data for you, okay?" she whispered, trying to put some normal cheer into her voice.

"Thank you," he managed quietly.

She patted his shoulder, swallowed her own emotions, and left him in privacy to control his own. As she went down the hall, her face fell again. _…I just want to help him… What's scaring you so much, X? What could be worse than the things we fight every day?_

* * *

Dr. Cain sat back in his chair in his office on the ship, his eyes locking on X across the small metal desk. "It's a very aggressive scouting plan, X. Signas forwarded me his full plan. I won't deny we need knowledge of the situation on this island, but this is very dangerous."

X remained standing at attention, but his expression was stoic. "I understand your concerns, sir. I still think these missions are important enough. It also is a very useful expense of our time while we get the transportation hub fully up and running again."

Dr. Cain rubbed his forehead with one knuckle. _And I need time to study that part of Zero's body he recovered from the X-Hunter…_ "…Very well. I approve. Deploy immediately, Megaman X."

X saluted, and twisted to run out of the office.

When the door sealed in his wake, Dr. Cain sighed heavily. "I hope this isn't a mistake…"

* * *

Blue light ripped down through the air and almost splashed across part of the inactive super-tank near the city. X poured out of it, his white and gold boots thrumming as he looked around for a moment. Then he closed his eyes, and focused on the sensor pings Dr. Light's programming gave him. The capsule wasn't too far from where he'd sensed it originally. "Well that's something, at least," he muttered, and started running.

He dropped down through angled access halls and crooked paths, some partially sheered apart from the battle between the cruiser and the tank that finally halted it. X rather ominously stepped over one of the mechaniloids he'd had to destroy on the way in to battle Wheel Gator, and finally dropped down into the odd junction of vents and maintenance shafts that was directly under where he'd first sensed the capsule.

Looking up at the vertical shaft a good eight meters over his head, he cringed, setting his hands on his hips. It was such an awkward combination of angles… Then his eyes lit with realization. "Oh! Of course!"

He quickly ran to the far wall, wall-climbing up along the lines in the metal plating. He twisted and leapt over, latching onto the side of the vertical shaft he needed to get into. "This is going to be… interesting," he muttered, and swung down, just under the lip of the shaft, and his boots ignited their new thruster engines.

He ripped across the opening of the shaft, and slammed into the inside of the far wall of it. "Hah!" he couldn't resist declaring, and quickly scrambled up the shaft.

It surprised him that he wound up popping out onto the roof of the tank, which made the whole process seem a bit foolish. He paused, looking around, honing in on the sense Dr. Light was giving him. There was an overhang of metal near him, and he stepped toward it. The moment his boots came within a meter or so, the metal shifted sharply, and burst open. X reflexively ducked back, but immediately eased as he saw the capsule's energy field glowing before him. A faint smile lit his face, and he stepped up to it, touching the field with his hand.

The field faded, and a hologram of Dr. Light appeared once more. "Enter this capsule, X. It contains an upgrade for your buster. I know battle has remained constant for you, and I'm sorry. This upgrade will allow your body to not only double the stored amount of power, but you'll also have full functionality in both arms."

X's eyebrows rose up. "That's… a lot of firepower."

Dr. Light nodded grimly. "I trust you to keep it in check, X. I must."

The hologram faded, and X exhaled, closing his eyes. He agreed with Dr. Light's mood. This kind of power wasn't something to be happy about. With a fresh breath, he turned, and backed into the capsule.

Energy rushed over him in streaming waves, and he felt his form become faintly numb and detached, his arms tingling intensely.

With a blast of air and soft chime of the energy dispersing, X looked down at his arms. White armor with gold and blue highlights, now mingled with some red. He stepped out onto the tank's roof again, and then started to build power, energy writhing over him.

His eyes actually widened. He could feel how much energy was coursing through his systems, drawing it in from everything around him. It was almost terrifying. He turned, aiming at one of the bulkheads, and let both arms convert. Aiming and bracing, he fired with both arms.

Air snapped and howled, power roaring behind him in a massive shockwave of purple and blue light. A wall of it ripped ahead of him, and flash-melted a line clear across the roof of the tank.

X was left staring at the molten metal with wide eyes. "…I don't need that much power in a single blast…" He looked down at his arms. "Maybe one at a time, hm?"

Clenching his fists out of the busters, he looked up, and focused. Energy thrummed around him, and pulled him back up into the air.

* * *

A flicker of blue light shot down from the sky again. It rushed down past a pile of junk a safe distance from the facility that spread across the landscape beyond. X appeared from the melting energy at a crouch, his hands on the ground, their new gauntlets glistening. First, he attuned his audio receptors for any patrols that would be investigating the teleport stream. None were approaching close by at least.

He eased around the small mountain of junk, staying in cover until he could get his optics on the facility itself. Ducking down near the remains of a ground vehicle, he zoomed his focus on the entrance he could see.

There were shield-toting mechaniloids at key watch points, and they seemed to have discus-like devices ready in their spare hands. Milling about the closest junk piles were other mechaniloids that looked like simple workers.

With a faint smirk, X built energy over his system, and activated an old weapon. Sting Chameleon's camouflage system. With a pulse-rush, he shimmered out of sight. With barely a puff of dust in his wake, he shot in, lightly hopping around a few workers, and walking past one of the shield-guards to keep his motions silent.

The sense of the capsule was very strong already, which surprised X. He knew it was near this area, but he assumed that it would be deep underground, possibly near the core of the facility (so like in the case of Flame Mammoth's factory…). This signal was barely twenty meters below him. Further, his internal map of the facility pulled from Alia's work showed no actual halls or passages leading to the point he needed. Was this another case of happenstance? Facilities being built around the capsules Dr. Light placed decades ago?

Without much time, his system only able to hold the camouflage in place for a dozen or so seconds, he dashed through a few more workers under the magnet roof-conveyor. It made movement awkward, as he nearly flew off with each hop or jump, but he adapted quickly.

X crouched under a platform with steps leading up to a slightly higher level of the conveyor system as his camo wore off. His main reason for stopping was that he was now directly over the signal he needed, at least within a few meters.

The grinding of metal-mashers and the conveyor made the whole facility loud and raucous, and there were no specific guards in this area. Just the workers milled about, hefting junk closer to the conveyor to make sure it caught them.

X's colors shifted, his right-arm buster converting into the plasma-saw generator. _I need to thank Wheel Gator. This weapon system is turning into a life saver._

From experience, he fired two saws. They quickly dug into a circular formation, ripping down with astonishing precision and speed. X was able to drop down after them after barely a few seconds, riding the jagged wall of torn metal, rock, and dirt into an open chamber below. The metal here was older, and it was dimly lit from an old, self-contained power-source.

There was a short wall before him, but X scaled and flipped over it easily. Waiting before him was the shining blue power of the capsule. Taking a breath, he walked up, and touched it with his hand.

As always, the light melted down into a vision of Dr. Light. This time, the good doctor looked grim. "X, this set of capsules has activated because your systems registered a consistent and dangerous threat. I can only imagine war or some terrible force has appeared before you. My system has acknowledged that you've already acquired the Buster and boot parts of this set, so I have more information for you this time."

X's expression grew more concerned as he listened. "…You've got my attention, Dr. Light."

"This is an upgrade to your core armor system, but it's by far the most devastating weapon I've yet prepared for you. This system will divert portions of incoming energy attacks into a secondary storage system that it will also add to you. When fully charged, you will be able to unleash all of that energy in a single explosive attack. The full specs of the range, power levels, and other details will be added to your internal data system so you'll have full knowledge of its dangers and uses. This is a last resort weapon, X. When you are alone, surrounded by death, and have no other escape. Please, use it with utmost caution. …And forgive me for making it for you."

X's eyes closed as his head bowed, and he felt the soft hum of the hologram fade away. "So even you didn't like where this was going," he whispered. With a steadying inhale, he moved forward, turning his back into the capsule. "Well, looks like I am my father's son after all."

Like all the previous capsules, he was washed over into power, his systems downloading new data as much as his body was being reconfigured and modified with point-transports and matter transitions.

After a few seconds, X stepped out through some falling mist, and raised his head. His body was glistening along white, gold, red, and blue plating, on his helmet unchanged now. His chest featured ridges and layers of plating in much greater detail than before.

His hand touched his heart, a faint wince passing over his features. "Thermobaric ignition along jets of plasma in an accelerating matrix… I can't test this." His hand came down. "At this point, I hope I never have to use it." His face remained solemn. These were tools of death, when the point of peace was all but forgotten. That wasn't the threshold he wanted to cross.

His comm signal chimed, startling him. X quickly gestured to the capsule, which now obeyed him, and powered down completely. Then he touched his comm. "Alia?"

"Thank G'd, I was worried I wouldn't get through. Yes, X. I need to warn you. Your next scouting location?"

"The crystal mine?"

"Yes. One of the X-Hunters just ported there. I've checking for any information or network leaks now, but this could be a trap. Do you want to abort?"

X glared down at the flooring. "…No, I'll stay the course. Thank you for the update. If this scouting mission means getting another part of Zero back, it'll be all the more worthwhile."

"X… you know how heavily fortified that mine is, and those crystals have properties no one fully understands yet. Honestly, that place is half the reason this island was ever turned into a brain-trust in the first place!"

"Alia, I understand your warning, and I'd normally follow it, but I have to do this. For Zero, if no other reason."

She slumped her shoulders at her console on the cruise. "X, you don't have to fight all this alone. We can get a team in there with you!"

"We'd need an army to punch through. One unit can infiltrate, hit the right points, and get out. You know that, Alia. I'll be as safe as I can be."

"…Understood. You better."

A little smile formed. "Will do. X out."

Alia looked at her screen sadly, the comm winking off. "How safe do you think you can really be in an enemy fortress, X?"

* * *

From the first moment, X was taken with the oddity of the crystals. He'd expected to see some hints of it rock walls in the mine. What awaited him was an alien landscape of glistening surfaces and glass-smooth edges. It was as beautiful as it was dangerous. He'd teleported down into an open shaft, completely bypassing the surface facilities, but it was obvious why that was so easy.

The mine itself was a deathtrap. No sooner had he arrived, then X had to plant himself against a crystal wall, and watch strange, diamond-like scanner arrays pass sweeps over the area he'd just been. They were embedded in the walls, but at odd angles, constantly scanning. His optics tightened, watching their internal structures, just visible enough to hint at refracting lenses and plates, mingled with glowing power cores.

_Uniquely designed defense turrets. This place practically IS a weapon, yet alone the crystals. What is Crystal Snail doing down here?_

Waiting for a pattern in the sweeps, X shot out, dancing over the glassy floor, and finally hand-flipping over a ledge, just ducking past a slope in the ground quickly enough to avoid a final sweep.

It also had him hurtling down to a blind drop at near full-dash speeds in a core-pulse. "Whoa!" he hissed, and his colors snapped to shades of lavender, his buster warping and articulating into an alien claw. He fired it up at the ceiling just as he reached the ledge, and the wire-claw shot out, grasped the roof, and swung him across the chasm. He landed neatly on the far side, standing braced for a moment to let his respirator cycle.

"Bit more exciting than I bargained for," he muttered, and then glanced ahead, over his shoulder. Something caught his eye.

With a little run and hop, he ducked down beside a boulder of crystal on the next tunnel, watching a mechaniloid perform maintenance on a battle-suit rigged for mining. It's 'hands' were massive, smashing spike-drills.

_Handy, but I'm not trying to blow the place apart. There is definitely more going on here than I thought. I need to find that capsule, deal with that X-Hunter, and get out before this gets out of hand._

Using Sting Chameleon's weapon again, X camouflaged, and flitted past the working robot. He quickly slid down another decline, and stayed at full speed to take advantage of his temporary invisibility. He dropped into a large, deep chamber, which was lined with the diamond-turrets. He dash-hopped from point to point, descending steadily, and finally dove out of the opening at the bottom just around a few spikes that lined the base. His camo wore off that same moment, and he caught his breath against the outer wall for a moment.

The capsule was deeper still, and the signal Alia had given him for the X-Hunter was just a little further ahead, above his current level. "I doubt I can stay hidden after a fight, so let's get the capsule first," he muttered, and recharged his invisibility.

* * *

X could feel his systems stressing from using the invisibility so much in even a short period. His busters were both getting uncomfortably heated, his respirator cycling heavily to try and compensate, and his new armor was actually venting steam in a few places around his flanks.

He was at the precipice of a chasm deep in the mine. It was a blind spot between diamond-turrets, and he saw why. The only way across was a full on leap across the chasm, where a cluster of turrets waited. If the drop didn't do the job for them, there were plenty to handle an intrusion team.

However, the capsule was below him. Surprisingly far below him. X frowned, and then climbed down onto the side of the chasm, and started to slide down as carefully as he could manage. Even for his practiced grip, it was an arduous task. He saw his destination soon. A gap in the wall several meters further down, in the dark reaches of the mine.

With a little swing down, X dropped into the tunnel, and instantly jerked into an acrobatic dive through it. Diamond turrets were there waiting for him!

He weaved through their scans, rolling around one, diving just past another, and finally flattening himself behind a slightly raised chunk of the floor at the end of the tunnel when he couldn't see another path.

Able to 'rest', he glanced around, confused. His sensors confirmed the capsule was practically beside him, but there was an undisturbed crystal wall there. Surely the crystals hadn't reformed so quickly as a few decades?

At first, he thought to throw a plasma-saw at the wall, but then he stopped, frowning. Assuming violence… no. He watched the diamond turrets for a moment, and when they were all scanning away from him, he shot over to the wall, and pressed his hand to it. Something reacted to him, causing him to smile. The crystals split along a hair-line between them, almost perfectly centered, and opened as a door. X leapt through, and let the door slip shut behind him, barely making a sound.

The capsule waited beyond, nestled amidst crystals and some simple mechanical plating, likely to power to the door system he'd just used.

Moving up to it, X touched the capsule, and eased back.

Dr. Light's image manifested, and smiled a little. "Thanks for not blowing open the door."

X chuckled.

"I'm glad you've remained perceptive as well as powerful, X. This upgrade will directly benefit your sensor system. It has a hybrid array of sonic, radio, multi-wavelength and multi-spectrum scanners integrated to allow you to detect things would otherwise go completely unnoticed. May it give you a path to follow, even when all you see is obstacles."

"…Thank you, Dr. Light," X replied gently. Especially after the violence and destructive power of the other upgrades, this one was a relief to him. It was still the Dr. Light he remembered, still the one he felt he knew in his heart.

The hologram smiled, and then faded away.

X entered the capsule, and let the change wash over him.

When he stepped out, he was at last fully realized in his new armor. The white plating flowed around his head like a crown, rising up in three spikes, with red, blue, and gold patterns layered back over his brain-case.

His eyes dilated, his pupils glowing gently, and he looked up, through the crystals above him. Data was pouring into his sensors in ways he'd never imagined. Light refracting in rainbows of colors he'd never known, vibrations singing the world into a layered masterpiece of form and motion. It was impractical for use while he was fighting, it would be too much, but for searching… he could see the X-Hunter looming in the chamber so high above.

Deactivating the full sensor sweep, X looked ahead, his fists clenching, but not with tension. He was determined. "I still owe you, Zero."

* * *

Agile's optics slid open slowly, his thin lips peeling into a sneer. Leaning off the wall, a large capsule to his left holding the unmistakable form of Zero's torso and arms, the X-Hunter stepped toward the center of the large, cube chamber, his gaze on the slowly opening gate beyond.

X stepped into view, from ivory boots to glistening crown, his eyes still lit with determination. "Sorry, I'm late."

Agile chuckled a bit. "My, my, but you do clean up well, don't you, Megaman X?"

"I have generous loved ones," X chose to reply. His eyes focused on the storage unit, and he let his new sensors partially activate. The room was rigged in several ways, including a seal on the door behind him. A teleportation nexus was available above the room, security locked (likely to Agile's signature), and wall behind the X-Hunter had a hidden door. Directly beneath Zero's parts was a trap door waiting to drop the pieces down into an abyss.

"Serges was sloppy in his execution," Agile began, drawing a beam sword in a smooth, savored flourish. "You'll find me far more… precise."

"Were you going to say 'agile' first?" X had to taunt, smiling faintly.

Agile's eyes sharpened, and he lunged.

X had to admit, the hunter was fast. He was able to dive and roll, but Agile was flying through the air and cutting a groove in the back wall in almost the same instant.

Rolling to one knee, X started to build power over his frame. "Fast and precise, agreed," he began, letting his right buster form. "I've fought faster, however."

"Overdrive, you mean?" Agile asked without looking, and suddenly wrenched backward, flying at X with a back-slash searing the air.

X burst-dashed ahead, past Agile across the center of the chamber, and fired _away_ from the Maverick. A shock-wave of plasma ripped along the flooring, and danced under Zero's parts, washing over the wall there briefly.

Agile had to chuckle as he twisted, watching X stand up after the dash. "What was that?"

X started to shimmer with power again, facing Agile. "Sealant."

The Maverick's brow creased, and his optics locked on the ground beneath the capsule. At last, wariness appeared on his face, and his gaze found X again. "…I see how you challenged our master before."

X turned firm. "Stand down or retreat now. I came for the parts, not death."

Agile sneered, flowing down into an absurdly stretched stance, his sword aimed down along his own cheek, the tip resting against his leading hand below. "How about I give you both!"

With a shattering of metal floor and shock of air, Agile was upon the Maverick Hunter that instant. X twisted just under the swipe, stumbling aside. Yet Agile instantly bounced back slashing again.

X barely wrenched himself out of the path, just avoiding the bisecting slice.

Agile twisted with his attack, coming around for a second swipe at X's neck. X's face showed fear as it felt back, just falling under and twisting down from the burning edges of the blade in time.

With a twist of hand and pivot of his feet, Agile instantly had his blade reversing into a stab down at X's chest. "You can't dodge forever!"

X's buster snapped up, firing point-blank into the blade as their eyes locked fiercely. The plasma blast wrenched Agile's arm out with the weapon, but Agile grinned, and used his free hand to grab X's buster beneath the wrist area, yanking it out and open.

"Got you!"

X's left hand was suddenly a buster, aimed directly into Agile's chest. Agile started to realize something was wrong, but saw the dark, yet dry eyebrow X raised in that same instant. "It was Kuwanger, actually."

Agile was confused for a core-pulse before a full-charge plasma blast engulfed him.

The X-Hunter was well-built himself. He slammed into the back wall, still very much alive, but scorched and smoking, his optics wild with frustration and shock.

X simply walked over, and picked the capsule up in his arms. He gave Agile a look of dismal anger. "We're done, or do you need me to drive the point further?"

Agile seethed, but eased away, sheathing his sword. "…You're not what I had calculated for."

X formed one buster, keeping the capsule up with one arm. "Leave."

Agile shimmered, and warped out of the room.

X had activated his sensor system with his new helmet, and smirked faintly. "Thanks for the teleportation key," he muttered, and focused on the matrix in the roof, transmitting the correct signal. He and the capsule were engulfed, and warped out of the chamber just as easily.

* * *

Agile, still smoking, stood in another part of the mine. A large console was arrayed to his right, brightly lit crystals filling the rest of the large chamber. The doorway beyond opened, and a bulbous shape smoothly strode into it.

"Where were your defense systems!?" Agile snapped violently.

Crystal Snail eased to a halt, his whisker-tendrils coiling slowly as his crimson, armored shell turned with his faint steps, facing Agile with steady, unmoved demure. "You told me to focus on my work here. I did. Our special guest disrupted none of my operations, and you knew he was coming by invitation." The relatively short Maverick slowly straightened his frame, and though his pale blue skin was not an intimidating color-tone, he suddenly became a daunting figure. His voice was a fluid, thick current through the air, deep and steady. "Failing your own job is not my concern until you make it my concern, X-Hunter. Are you adjusting my orders, or not?"

Agile growled, leaning down into Crystal Snail's optics. "I won't forget this."

Snail's optics sharpened to slits without fear. "Nor shall I. Your tactical failure was abysmal. Every advantage, and you failed utterly? I would dismiss you from my class were I still at the academy, _child_."

Agile shivered, but teleported away once more.

Crystal Snail eased down, and simply trundled along to his console, starting to work again. Data screens about the crystals were visible, but they quickly filed down to the sides. What was revealed beneath them was an analysis of the Sigma Virus itself…

And he simply continued working.

* * *

Author's Note:

A slightly off-schedule update this time due to my moving cross-country! I am posting this while surrounded by a mountain of boxes. It's not as 'box-fort' fun as you'd think. Bad news: Next Update will likely need 3 weeks rather than 2 weeks. Good News: the next chapter is mostly complete, and there should be no further delays!

Again, thank you all for the lovely reviews, PMs, watches, favs, etc. Everyone is a little nudge to keep me going, and it gets the story written!

I'm a little more pressed for time than usual, but I did want to add a comment here for the interaction between Alia and X in the map-room. I enjoyed the emotional tension of the conversation, as well as the hints it drops of the deeper issues between the two. You can look forward to THAT little story line getting more attention later!


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